Animetra Princess
by Chibi Star Vamp
Summary: Bunny Sanchez, a child living on Earth of middle school age, has more secrets within her than she thinks. She'll be forced to discover them all and endure the shattering of her reality as she is approached by those of a whole other world, who seem to know the truth behind her existence. "Bunny Sanchez, you have been selected as one of the Princess Candidates of Animetra."
1. Prologue: Taken

First chappie! Yay! I hope you all enjoy the revised edition of the story. I was still a bit of a novice when I posted it, and being as how this was the first story that I ever personally wrote (in a notebook, not on FFn), it holds a certain sentimental value to me, and so I want it to be some of my best work, _ever_! But enough of this, get on reading already! XD

I own _everything_!

Enjoy!

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><p><em>As I sit here today, on the balcony of my home, I can't help but let my mind wander back to the beginning of everything. <em>

_To the time before I held my current position, and was a proud mother, and even grandmother. To a time before I had my lovely husband and he and I were happily married for over thirty years (and counting). _

_It was something that I've been doing often, lately. But I knew that as I aged, my days on this planet were slowly coming to a close. And even though I was still fairly young, time stopped for no entity — not even Father Time himself. And it was this fact alone that currently had me thinking back to my… very eventful childhood… _

_I slightly laughed to myself; as I briefly reminisced in some of the most memorable events._

_And to think it all started with an invitation…_

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><p>.<p>

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><p><span>Animetra Princess<span>

_**Prologue: Taken**_

***By Chibi Star Vamp***

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><p>.<p>

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><p>She was a small, five-year-old girl.<p>

Her hair was as black as space, and very shiny. But she was also gifted with rainbow-streaks in her hair. Where these streaks were placed, her black hair naturally changed into their bright colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. While normally this would be quite an oddity among others, given who she was, and the history of her family, it was a hereditary condition that they would be blessed with uniquely-colored hair.

Her hair reached down to her tiny waist; or, it would if it weren't for the fact that she had it styled in two separate ponytails (her streaks evenly split), with the tresses tightly curled. Because of this, her hair reached to a little before her mid-back, that day.

Her adorable, chubby little face was framed by her pure black bangs. The bangs were flat and covered the entirety of her forehead, but stopped about a millimeter or so before her eyes. Her eyes were a very bright, sparkling purple color. They would darken or even begin to shine depending on her emotions. Her big purple eyes were outlined by her midnight-colored eye lashes. Despite being young, they were already long and made her seem as if she were wearing mascara. The little girl also had soft-pink-colored lips that were moisturized to perfection thanks to the kiddy-lip-balm that she was wearing.

(Briefly she stuck her pink tongue out of her mouth to lick her lips. Not because they were dry, but because the lip-balm tasted like bubblegum — and she absolutely _adored_ sweets).

The little girl had fairly-pale skin. She did not go out often, so at times her skin color seemed to mimic that of a ghost's. But knowing that their daughter disliked looking in any way similar to the wandering souls, her parents made sure that she went out at least once a day, to go get some sun and ensure that her skin didn't stay very pale.

To go with her cute appearance, the little girl was also dressed cutely. She was wearing a soft-pink colored dress with short sleeves that went down to a few inches past the curve of her shoulders. The top half of the dress was very simple and made out of smooth silk. The curved neckline was bordered by soft white frills. Around her petite waist was a dark-red sash that was tied into a big and beautiful bow behind the little girl; the knot of the bow skillfully made to resemble the shape of a heart, perfectly.

The skirt of the pink dress was wide in diameter, due to the layers upon layers (three in total, actually) of frill that was placed beneath the skirt. While normally this would be uncomfortable, the little girl enjoyed it because she liked the way the skirt moved when she twisted her waist.

The little girl also wore white socks that went up to a little under her knees since the top was folded down slightly creating two separate layers there. She also wore shiny white shoes that had pink flowers on it along the edge of the shoes; the shoes also held small heels.

And finally, the little girl also wore simple jewelry. There were two platinum heart-shaped earrings in her ears; that shined remarkably as the lighting of the room hit it. She also adorned a diamond bracelet on her left hand. The bracelet used white-colored, square-shaped diamond studs as a base, but also contained the same shaped and sized studs that matched the colors of her hair, in it. The colored-diamonds were few, and scattered about in random directions. In the center of the bracelet was a group of black-colored diamonds that spelled out the little girl's name; the diamonds were masterfully placed so that her name was written in feathergraphy **(a/n: Google this font — it's gorgeous!)**.

Finally, around her neck was a simple necklace. The chain of the necklace was a tightly-braided thin black rope. Hanging from it was a circular locket; that was made of pearls that had been combined and smoothed down. On the front of the locket was the symbol of her family: a crescent moon slightly tilted downward and turned to the left, with four medium-sized isosceles triangles bordering the outline that would have made-up the rest of the moon. And inside the piece of jewelry was a picture of her family, along with a message engraved on the opposite side.

The little girl began to hum to herself as she continued to read her story book. One of her legs was bent and beneath the other, while the opposite hung-off the front of her plushy, rabbit-shaped chair; the book that she was reading resting on her lap.

Despite being only of the age of five, she was a very intelligent little girl and was able to comprehend things above her age group. That was why she was able to easily read a two-hundred-word book, with content in it that a child of nine could only begin to comprehend. But of course, she couldn't read the book all in one day. She was still somewhat of a slow reader and took her time as she scanned the words carefully, and looked at the lightly-drawn pictures.

A smile broke on her face as she reached her favorite part.

'_Stand back, you foul beast!'_ She read in her mind. _'I have come to save the princess, and will not allow you to thwart my plans!'_

She was close to giggling in delight as she read the way the brave knight fiercely fought the dragon, and saved the beautiful princess. A light dusting of red appeared on her cheeks as she read the scene where the two kissed.

The shade of red only became darker as she unconsciously replaced the image of the knight and the princess, with herself and her secret crush. Her eyes went wide as this happened, and she immediately closed the book; her purple eyes wide with embarrassment.

_W-why…_ _Why did I do that?_ She thought; shocked that she would imagine herself kissing her best friend. And not just a simple kiss on the cheek, but on the mouth.

The way her mother and father kissed.

_I'm too young for that!_ She shouted at herself in her mind. _I shouldn't even be thinking about it…_

So deep in thought over her hallucination, she couldn't help the scream of surprise as someone knocked on her door, and then waited a good ten seconds before entering. The person who was now present in her bedroom raised an eyebrow at her.

"Onagi-denka…" The female said as she looked around the room for a few moments before her gaze landed on the little girl that was seated on the fluffy bunny-shaped bean-bag chair, with her knees placed close to her chest and the book that she had been reading hugged tightly to her chest. She couldn't help it as a look of worry entered her eyes. "Is something the matter? Why are you in such a manner?" She asked.

The little girl gave a nervous laugh as she began to relax her posture. She moved her feet so that they both hung over the front of the chair, and placed the book on her lap; her hands placed on top of it. The tint of red on her face became the slightest bit harsher.

"Ha-ha!" She laughed. "Sorry to worry you, but nothing is wrong." She said.

"Are you certain?" The older woman asked as she fully stepped into the room and closed the polished and shiny white door that was its entrance. "You seem a little… shaken, Onagi-denka." The woman observed.

The little girl shook her head. "No. I am fine. But I appreciate your worry… although, I am sorry for misleading you."

"Oh! That is fine, Onagi-denka." The woman quickly responded; dismissing the idea that the little girl could possibly have misled her. "I am just glad that you are alright." The little girl smiled up at the woman.

"Thank you." She said sweetly; a shy smile on her pink-dusted face. "Now, please tell me why you are here." She said; curious as to why the woman had come to her room, in the first place.

At the reason for her visit, the woman couldn't help the large smile that formed on her face. The little girl noticed this and became even more eager to know why she had a visitor. "I came to inform you that the Pod of the Itorashi Family is approaching. Your parents thought that you would like to go see them along with Onagi-hidenka."

Hearing the words, the little girl blushed at the fact that the very person whom she had just imagined kissing, had arrived at her home. But quickly realizing that the woman would grow more worried of her if she noticed her now-redder face, the little girl tried desperately to wipe the image from her young mind — as she nodded at the woman.

"Y-yes." She responded. "I… I would v-very much like t-to see them."

"Very well. Do you need help placing your book back on your shelf?" The woman asked; momentarily glancing at the tall bookshelf that almost reached the ceiling of the little girl's room. It was very tall and wide, and she wasn't certain that the young female could reach the height that the book she was holding belonged on.

"No, no thank you. I can place the book back myself." The little girl responded.

"Then I shall wait for you outside, Onagi-denka." Receiving the nod of confirmation from the little girl, the woman quickly pulled open the white door, and then stepped outside and closed it before starting to wait for the female to be finished and prepared to see the visitors.

Inside her room, the young girl released a sigh to try to calm her nerves. She really needed to get herself under control before she not only faced her family, but that of her secret crush — and her secret crush, _himself_.

_If he sees my red face, he'll start to ask me why I look this way, and he won't stop until he learns the truth… I can't tell him the truth!_ Her blush deepened — to her demise — as she thought of what his reaction would be if she told him that the reason she was blushing so fiercely was because she had imagined kissing him.

_I… I need to c-control myself…_ She thought as she began to stand from her bunny-chair and started to head towards her large bookshelf. _I c-can't let him or my f-family see me this w-way… T-they'll know that it h-has something to do with k-ki—_

She shook her head.

Thinking of that word would only make it harder for her to get the excess red off of her face, and back to normal. And she was currently pressed for time; knowing all-too-well that they expected her to be there as quickly as possible considering how her best friend _was _visiting after a week of being apart.

She sighed as she stood on top of a fluffy white rug that was placed on the floor and positioned in the center of her bookshelf.

As soon as her two feet were placed on the perfect white circle, she held the book to her chest with one hand, and aimed the other towards the ground. She opened the fingers on that hand, and exhaled as she felt something move within her body. She could feel her left hand (that was aimed at the rug) begin to tingle a little as she started to form white sparkles.

She moved her sparkle-depositing hand over the rug, before closing her fist and stopping the flow that formed the sparkles.

"Rise." She said. Her white rug, which was absolutely shining with the sparkles that she had placed on it, began to slowly raise itself off the ground. She made sure to keep perfect balance by stabilizing herself on the rug as it started to get higher and higher.

"Stop." It stopped rising. "Left." She shifted her body weight so that she wouldn't fall as the rug began to move to the left. "Stop." As soon as it was in front of the empty spot where her book belonged, she made sure that her moving rug stopped. When it no longer moved, she placed the book back in its slot, with the spine facing her, before commanding the rug to move back to its original place.

Once it was there, she opened her palm once again and aimed it at the rug. But this time she felt the flow move backwards as she called upon the sparkles that were on her rug, and forced them to move back towards her palm.

When she saw that the rug was now sparkle-free, she closed it and once again stopped the flow altogether, before briefly fixing her clothing, and heading towards her door.

She couldn't help herself as she fussed with her dress, hair ties, and even her black bangs as she got closer and closer towards her door. _I hope I look okay…_ She thought as she finally reached the door and pushed it open (something it only did when it felt her touching it). _The last thing I want is to look like a mess in front of him… I doubt Okaa-san will like it, either._ The image of her mother giving her a disapproving look as she spotted her possible untidy attire, made her frown as she began to mess with her clothing a little more.

"Are you ready, Onagi-denka?" The woman asked as soon as she spotted the little girl.

"Uh—I mean, yes. Yes I am." The little girl stated.

"Are you certain?" The woman asked. This time, the little girl sighed as she stopped messing with her appearance, and looked up at the woman. Given her posture (feet pointed inward and hands behind her back), the woman knew that the little girl was embarrassed about something.

"Do I… do I look okay?" The little girl asked.

The woman smiled; knowing perfectly well why the young female was asking that question.

"You look beautiful, Onagi-denka," the woman said. "Although, you could use a little more color to your cheeks… Do you mind if I, perhaps, fixed that?" The woman asked.

"No. I do not mind at all."

With the consent, the woman bent down as she got closer to the little girl's level. Then she placed her hands on the little girl's chubby face, and began to pinch her cheeks. She made sure to do this as quickly as possible as to not cause the girl great discomfort, before she finally pulled her hands away and stared at the now-pinker cheeks.

She smiled.

"There. Now you look beautifully perfect." The woman stated.

The girl's cheeks became more pink as she blushed. "Thank you." Now she felt ready to see her crush and her family.

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><p>When the two arrived at the landing, the young girl's family was standing as they waited for their visitors to arrive. Seeing this, the young woman and little girl sped-up their arrival — momentarily jogging in an elegant and straight posture as they tried desperately to reach the girl's parents before the family arrived; her family's presence symbolizing the soon event.<p>

Looking up at the woman, the young girl giggled a little. The woman did the same.

"Onagi-heika, I have arrived with Onagi-denka." The young woman stated as she gained the attention of the oldest male of the family.

He was quite a handsome man. His hair was as white as snow — the complete opposite of the little girl's — with some silver along the edges, and very long. The bangs that covered his eyes were positioned in a way that covered both his ears and forehead, but not his eyes; there was even a thick group of bangs that were settled directly between his dark purple eyes; eyes that the young female inherited.

The rest of his long hair was pulled into a low ponytail with a black velvet hair tie. The tie was positioned near his neck, and the rest of his hair fell down close to his mid-back in thick and slightly curled strands.

The man was dressed casually — in a simple pressed white dress shirt with golden buttons, and an ironed black jacket and slacks. The jacket held silver cufflinks. The cufflinks kept the edge of his sleeves close together and had the very insignia on them that the little girl had on her necklace; the same crescent moon with the four isosceles triangles placed on the invisible outline for the rest of the moon. The pants were also ironed to perfection, but looked quite comfortable and not stiff on him as they rested above his polished black, small-heeled shoes.

And finally, he also wore a few pieces of simple jewelry. In his ears, but hidden behind the strands of white hair that made his bangs, were a pair of earrings that looked similar to fangs. There were two small silver and platinum fangs, nicely curved and shining, positioned at the edge of each of his ears. Around his wrist was a solid gold watch encrusted with small diamonds; currently half-hidden by the sleeve of his open jacket. And the last piece of jewelry he currently wore was a ring. It was a platinum band snuggly placed on the third finger of his left hand. It was engraved with swirls at the top and two small black opals framed a red beryl emerald; all three gems cut to perfection and shining without effort.

When the man turned around, the rest of his family followed suit at the voice — a smile placing themselves on their faces as they looked at the last member of their family.

"Thank you…" He told the woman as he sent her a smile; she held back the blush on her face. "You may go now."

The young woman bowed before leaving the family; her heart still slightly pounding from the smile the handsome gentlemen had given her.

The man then turned his attention to little girl; who was smiling up at him with a sweet and yet timid look on her face. His grin widened at her expression. He knew, just like others knew as well, that she always got nervous when there were visitors — especially when they were her friends.

"Come here, Yayuki-tan…" Said a woman, gently and sweetly, as she held out her smooth hand for the little girl.

The woman was quite beautiful; matching with the older male in both attractiveness and surely age. She had beautiful and straight dark black hair that was the exact color of the young girl's. It reached down to her butt in silky and straight waves, but unlike the girl's, it did not hold the rainbow streaks in it. But that did not take away from the fact that it shined perfectly in the light.

She had teal-colored eyes. At the moment, they looked the slightest shade greener than they normally would; due to the lighting of the place that she was stationed. Her teal eyes were greatly defined by her dark black eyelashes. They were full and perfectly curled. A light dusting of tan was placed above her eyes that gave her a natural glow around them.

Above her eyes were bangs very similar to the younger female's. They covered her forehead entirely, but held a little more bounce to them than that of the younger female, and were brushed so that they moved to right side of her face. Framing her bangs were two separate groups of thick hair that would normally cover her ears, but were pulled back to be tied at the back of her head with a beautiful snake-shaped silver and diamond hair tie. The snake was great in detail; each scale perfectly visible with two small red diamonds as the eyes.

The woman was dressed in a simple and yet beautiful summer dress. It was a soft yellow color and stitched to fit her perfectly. Her breasts were politely hidden behind the smooth material of the top of the dress; the somewhat thick straps placed on her olive-skinned shoulders, hid the straps of the bra that was underneath. The dress was snuggly tight around her waist do to a simple white belt that held a silver ring on the front; the fabric attacked to this ring at the sides. Below the belt, the dress nicely flowed down to her knees. It was a little more flat against her body than the dress of the little girl, but it still wasn't entirely leveled against her legs.

Around her ankles were simple golden-colored heels. A thick strap of the heel was wrapped around the beginning of her foot. Smaller, cylinder-shaped strands covered the top of her foot in a crisscrossed pattern up to her toes. The heels of the shoe were small in height — two inches — but one inch thick in width. The tip of the heel was cream-colored.

The woman, like the man, also wore jewelry. She adorned a gold necklace. The chain was thin and long; going down to stop a little above her breasts. The pendant attached to it was simple; a serious of three circles (thicker at the bottom than at the top), each smaller than the last, melded together at the top where the chain of the necklace went through a loop that was there. On her left hand, was a ring very similar to the man's, but more feminine. The band wasn't as thick as the man's, but everything else was the same. And finally, she wore platinum earrings that were slightly hidden behind strands of her black hair. The earrings were very simple: one diamond with six platinum prongs holding it in place.

The little girl smiled up at the beautiful woman, and didn't hesitate in taking her hand. It was nice and warm and gentle against her smaller hand.

She moved forward and stood beside an older, young male boy.

He was over a foot taller than her young stature, and held similar features to the older male. He, too, held hair that was as white as snow; although his seemed to be a softer shade of white than the older man's, whose white hair was more defined and sharp in color. But like the young girl, he also held bangs that were somewhat flat against his forehead; only his white hair was a bit more thick.

His hair was somewhat long; reaching close to his shoulders. Similar to the man, it was a little wavy. His hair was thick and smooth; flowing down nicely in short waves. His hair and bangs framed a pair of striking red eyes. They stood out the most against his somewhat pale skin and white hair, and seemed to be set in high-definition due to the black eyelashes that framed them. He had somewhat of a chubby face, but the baby fat in his cheeks was slowly going away as he grew older. This gave him a cute, and yet somewhat older, face.

He was dressed, like the two adults, perfect for the weather. He wore a black and blue plaid shirt. The main base color was royal blue, and there were thin sea-blue stripes that were vertical, intersecting with slightly thicker black horizontal stripes. On his back, done in illuminated gold, was the same symbol on the pendant hanging from the young girl's necklace.

He wore simple, dark blue jeans that weren't too tight or too loose on his body. The ends of his jeans were folded inward since they were still a bit too long for him. They laid against his tightly-tied white sneakers; a golden pendant hanging in the middle of the first lace. It was bare and smooth.

Finally, the young boy wore a black electronic watch with the time blinking brightly on the green screen. His piercing consisted of a small, pure silver ball with a tiny scripted _Y _skillfully printed onto it. The same necklace that hung from the little girl's neck — but only slightly larger in scale — hung from his own neck; resting perfectly on his chest

The young boy smiled down at the little girl; momentarily placing his hand on her head and moving it around a bit. The young girl looked up at him, a pout on her face.

"Yuki-onii-san," she said in a soft voice as she raised her free hand and placed it over the spot that he had moved his on; starting to fix the hair that she believed he had caused to misplace. "Why did you do that? Now my hair is fuzzy…" Her purple eyes narrowed in annoyance.

The male, Yuki, chuckled slightly as he watched the younger girl fumble with her hair; tenderly trying to place the strands back in place before the visiting family spotted her.

"Don't worry, Imouto-chan, your hair looks fine." Yuki said.

Her frown deepened; not believing her brother's words despite him never having lied to her, at all. "Okaa-san…" She said as she tugged on the hand of the woman she was holding — the female looked down at her; immediately gaining a curious expression on her face as she looked at the upset look that was currently placed on her daughter's face.

"What's the matter, Yayuki-tan?" Her mother asked her.

"Yuki-onii-san made my hair fuzzy." Almost immediately, the woman moved her eyes upward to land on the red-eyed male.

"Yuki?" She asked; in a tone that told him to explain.

"I simply moved my hand back on her hair. I was sure to be careful and not ruin it, Okaa-san. After all, I know how she gets when someone messes with her hair — especially when visitors are arriving." Yuki calmly explained.

The woman sighed. Her eyes shifted down to the little girl, Yayuki, and she gently grasped the younger female's hand with her own, larger one.

The male beside her finally noticed the movement and turned his head to look at the other three occupants.

"Is something the matter?" He asked as he shifted his body to look at the three other members of his family. His eyes landed on his wife as she began to care for their daughter.

"Yuki apparently made Yayuki's hair _fuzzy_ — as she called it — and I am fixing it before the Itorashi Family arrives." His wife said as she began to run her hands across her daughter's head; making sure that the hair was nice and smooth, and not a strand was out of place.

"Yuki?" His father asked as he looked at him; using the same tone that his mother had.

"I made sure to be careful. The last thing I want is for Yayuki to be upset, Okaa-san." Yuki said; making sure to stay calm and truthful under his father's gaze. The older male sighed — a sigh that the members of the family easily recognized; it meant that he was dismissing the situation.

"Is her hair fixed?" He asked.

"Yes." His wife said as she straightened her spine and stood. "Yayuki's hair is as perfect as it had been, before." She stated.

"And just in time," her husband said. "Here they are."

The four-person family all turned their eyes to the approaching aircraft. It was a smooth black color — the overall body very different from an airplane. It was not very long, or tall in height. The body didn't seem as if it were broken into pieces, but as if it had been carved from the same material at the same time.

Black wings stuck out from the side. There wasn't a piece of it that would stop the flow of air beneath it as it flew. The wings shined as the lighting of the sun hit it from the back. The aircraft had no tail to it, but instead the back held a series of engines placed in a circular formation, with a large special fan set in the middle that would use the air around it to provide more fuel if the engines ran-out of fuel too soon.

The nose of the aircraft was slightly pointed with a rounded tip. There were tinted green windows there that kept the sun or anything else from obstructing the pilots' views as they drove the machine. Besides that window, two other large and circular windows were placed on each side of the aircraft to allow the passengers within to look outside. Since the aircraft was small, only two doors existed on it; the ones used to load and unload the passengers.

Four large tires rested beneath the body and were in contact with the surface as it easily moved the aircraft forward; its hard texture successfully slowing it down to a manageable pace.

Painted skillfully on the either side of the plane, was the symbol of that family. It was of a sun with the photosphere made of three circles (the middle circle being the smallest), and the corona resembling a simple drawing of waves rotating to the right. The insignia brightly shone in gold on the aircraft.

Seconds after seeing it, the aircraft came to a stop — momentarily turning its body so that the insignia stared the family in the face.

When the aircraft was fully immobile, a slot opened beneath its large door and from it shot out two silver planes. The first plane was angled towards the ground and had a thick metal cylinder attached to its side; it moved horizontal at first, then vertically down, and then horizontal again — forming silver stairs. The second plane went vertical, and once it touched the ground, it turned horizontal and connected with the first plane at its end. Then the silver cylinders attached to the first plane shot-up, and created a railing; the piece locking in place once it reached its designated height. Smaller cylinders then detached themselves from the railing, and locked into place on the sides of the stairs.

After the incline was formed, the family could see the handle of the door turn to their right, before the door was pushed open. The one holding onto the handle from the inside, and the first passenger of the aircraft to be viewed, was a man that seemed to be around the same age as the father of the awaiting group.

He was very tall and surely reaching over six feet; maybe only a few or so inches from being seven feet… He had short, dark orange hair that was tousled and styled in a way that seemed that he had just awakened. But the ones who viewed him knew better than that; knowing fully well that that was the way his hair was regularly styled. The tousled hair was moving backward, but did not form a makeshift wave on his head. While some areas of the hair moved back, other parts framed themselves around his neck and even moved downward; but the overall movement of the hair could easily be made-out.

His bangs parted near the upper right corner of his face, and were flowing in strands in various directions; some going downward, others smoothly angled to the sides of his face — adjacent and opposite to the bangs. But despite his hair seeming as if he had never combed it, it was in fact combed and made for an attractive appearance.

His bangs nicely framed his stunning hazel-green eyes. They looked marvelous against his light-cream-colored eyes. The outer edges of his eyes were slightly darker than the rest; making their green-hazel color more captivating.

The man was dressed quite casually. He wore a soft-blue, long-sleeved dress shirt whose colors seemed to be white tinted with soft blue, but was perfect nevertheless. The shirt held polished white buttons that were successfully hidden behind a solid light-gray-colored, v-neck vest. The vest fit nicely against his shirt and went down to his black belt. It held shiny black buttons that nicely stood-out among the gray and beneath it was tucked the man's black tie. Slightly on top of the straps of the vest was the collar of the dress shirt.

Like the other gentleman, the man also wore slacks. His slacks were a solid black color and hid the muscles of his legs, perfectly. They went down to his polished black shoes that were similar to the other male's; only his were simple slip-ons and did not require to be tied in order to stay on his feet.

The man wore four pieces of jewelry. Around his left wrist was a brown-leather watch; it was tied snuggly onto his wrist. Hidden behind his wild hair were two piercings on each ear. The first piercing was a somewhat large circle that lay flat against his ear; its edges touching nothing else but the skin there. The second piercing was smaller and consisted of a musgravite gemstone held in place by four platinum prongs. And finally, on the third finger of his left hand was a wedding ring. It was a solid gold band with a dragon engraved into it. Where the dragon's body curved, a small gemstone was placed. The first gemstone near the tail of the dragon, and placed beneath its body was a bluish green grandidierite gemstone. On the curved section and above the dragon was another musgravite gemstone. Then in the space of the third and final curved section was a red beryl emerald. And finally, in the open mouth of the dragon was a simple diamond.

His head was slightly inclined downward as he looked at the steps, but as soon as his feet were down the first one, his head raised and he smiled as his green-hazel eyes landed on his male friend and the other three members of the family.

"Hello Ikoroku." The man said as he easily climbed down the steps and greeted his friend.

"Good afternoon, Raiden." The man, named Ikoroku, replied back; a friendly smile on his face as he watched his friend-of-years descend the steel steps and get closer to him.

Behind Raiden was a woman; who was currently descending the steps and looking behind her every now and then.

The woman was very beautiful, and also seemed to be around the same age as the two males, and the other woman standing next to Ikoroku. She had long hair that reached down a little past her mid-back. The base color was platinum blonde, but there were also streaks of soft blonde-colored hair and cream blended in perfectly and naturally with the slightly wavy locks.

The strands that would normally cover her face were currently pulled back and held near the back of her head. A solid-gold clip in the detailed shape of a Swallowtail Butterfly held the hair tightly in place with its legs wrapped around the strands, and slightly dug into her head.

Because her bangs were pulled back, her eyes were clearly visible on her fair skin. She held eyes that were entirely white — sometimes taking on a silvery tone when the lighting was dim — with the pupils a slight gray color that allowed others to see the difference easily. Normally, a person would be considered blind if they held such eyes, but not in her case. She could perfectly see and had her full vision. Her white eyes were framed by her great-in-volume black eyelashes. Hints of possible eye-shadow were visible beneath her elegantly curved eyebrows, but the color blended in too naturally with her skin for someone to be certain or not. She wore light-pink lip-stain that fit and felt perfect against her plump lips.

The dress she wore was perfect for the summer, and of the color orange. The straps were thin and held two brown beads at the end where they connected with her dress. The material that covered her breasts was slightly loose and ruffled in vertical layers as it successfully hid the shape of her breasts; the material curving in slightly in the middle. Beneath this material was a beaded two-inch-long belt that was sewn into the dress itself. The belt was entirely made of wooden beads of various sizes and shades of brown — from dark brown to light brown. It also curved slightly down along with the material of the top of the dress. The skirt of the dress began below the belt. The material was no longer tight but loose and flowed, and consisted of two layers. The first layer was a comfortable, solid orange silk skirt that hid her legs down to four inches above her ankle. The second material was a light transparent orange layer that hung loosely on top of the solid orange layer.

Beneath the dress, her feet were clad in brown sandals. The bottom of the sandals was solid dark brown rubber that was about a half-inch in height. Where her feet lay, there was a new layer of material that was a light brown-yellow color and with a design on it that resembled horizontal floorboards.

The straps of the sandals were brown and felt like smooth velvet. Where the mid-foot strap, and the toe strap connected, were beads. One lone dark red bead was placed where the two straps connected with one other; in the middle of the _Y _shape that they created. On the mid-foot strap, placed on both sides of the lone red bead, was a small tan-colored wooden bead, with one large dark brown bead directly behind it.

Her jewelry consisted of a bracelet that was made of large dark brown wooden beads placed on her left hand, and a necklace that went along with the motif. It was a thin, brown velvet string that had a small white pearl at its center. Next to the pearl were brown and orange wooden beads that were smaller than the pearl. This pattern happened three times before it stopped altogether; a large brown bead at their ends.

In her ears, and slightly visible to all, were diamond earrings that resembled a flower. There were five white diamonds bordering one lone green diamond in the center. And finally, on her left hand, the same exact ring that was placed on Raiden's hand was on her ring finger; the only difference being that the dragon engraved in it was moving to the right, and not the left, like his.

The woman looked back once again as she was almost near the end of the stairs; a frown visible on her face. "Come down here, you three." She stated in the direction of the open door. Moments passed, the frown on her face only getting deeper; before she sighed and turned her body around — ready to go back up the stairs, inside the aircraft, and pull the people left inside, out by force.

"Kotone, wait." A female voice said. The blonde woman, Kotone, turned around — her gaze landing on the black-haired woman.

"What is it, Yamuhira?" She asked the woman.

"You shouldn't go back up there just to drag them out. I'm certain that they'll come down here in a few seconds." The female, Yamuhira, said to her friend. Kotone sighed and turned back around; once again shifting the material of her long dress to keep herself from tripping over it.

"I sure hope that you're right, Yamuhira." Kotone said as she finished descending the stairs and walked over to her long-time friend. The two briefly hugged before pulling back. "How've you been?" She asked; despite only having been apart for a week.

"Great. Thank you for asking." Yamuhira responded. "And how have you been, Kotone?" At this, Kotone heaved a tired sigh. The expression caused Yamuhira to raise an almost invisible black eyebrow. "What is the matter? Did something bad happen?" She asked.

"No, no…" Kotone said; dismissing the fact that anything terribly negative caused her sigh. "It's just that I've been busy this entire week planning the twins' birthday celebration tonight." She sighed again. "It's times like these that make me wish they were both born in separate years, on separate days. Organizing a birthday celebration that they'll _both_ enjoy is a massive tasks considering how, despite being twins, they're _complete opposites_." Yamuhira momentarily laughed.

"Well I'm sure that you've managed to get everything under control and ready for tonight, correct?" She asked.

"Of course. It'd take a lot more than opposite-personality twins to stop me from planning the perfect birthday for my children." Kotone said. "Naturally, Kiyomi was a big help during that time. The poor thing. I had to put her training on hold for the week so that she could help me…"

"You could have called me for help." Yamuhira said.

"I know, I know, but I chose not to. I knew perfectly well that you already had a lot on your mind, as well." Kotone responded. When the sound of her children going down steel stairs didn't reach her ears, she turned her head away from her friend to look at the entrance. Her eyes furrowed.

"They're still not down…" She muttered. "I can't believe this... Kiyomi! Hitomi! Hitoshi! Get down here right now!" She called-out to the aircraft.

A few seconds later, a muffled voice could be made-out. The sound of a struggle could be picked-up, and then a loud _"Ow!" _reached their ears. Kotone rolled her eyes at the sound; knowing perfectly well that her children would now be walking down those steps in a few moments; and she was eager for them to do so.

"Kiyomi! Hitomi! Hitoshi!" She said; calling out her children's names once again. "Get down here right now! You've kept us all waiting long enough!" Just as she was about to stomp up those stairs and forcibly drag them out like she had thought of doing so before, she caught a glance of something coming out of the entrance. Looking at the object more closely as it began to roll down the steel steps one-by-one (sometimes skipping one in-between), she rolled her eyes as she quickly identified the object…

…One of her boy's portable gaming devices.

"You jerk! Look what you did!" Sounded not a minute later.

"Me?! This is all your fault!" Was the response.

"Be quiet, you two! Okaa-san wants us to get down there! Forget the game and get out!" This voice was different from the last two; the fact that it belonged to a female was evident.

"But—"

"_Get out_!"

She couldn't help the grateful smile that formed on her face as she _finally _spotted the first of her three children. It was no surprise to her when it turned out to be her calmer twin.

The little boy was currently five-years-old; a few hours away from officially becoming a six-year-old. He was tall in stature and was about halfway up to being four-feet-tall. The young boy had hair the color of a sunset; it was the same orange that the sky took on as the bright yellow star touched the horizon. While his hair was somewhat straight, it flared at the bottom and feathered out a little bit; causing the tips to reach near one-third down his neck.

His bangs were wild and covered his entire forehead. They were separated near the upper left corner of his forehead, and the bigger half was moving towards the right, while the smaller half was moving and somewhat tucked behind the hair on the left side of his face. But his bangs were styled in a way that allowed others to view his eyes.

His eyes matched those of his mother, Kotone, almost perfectly. They were the same white color, but his were a little more transparent than hers. That is why it was a bit easier to see his almost invisible pupil, than it was to see hers. Black eyelashes framed his crystal-clear irises, and made them even more amazing to look at.

The young male was dressed in a simple jade-colored shirt. The shirt was made of silk, and was a casual short-sleeved dress shirt with a single pocket over his left breast. Designed on the pocket was the same symbol that adorned the side of the aircraft that had brought him and his family there. The sun shone brightly on his pocket with all its glory. While he didn't wear a tie like his father, Raiden, did, he did wear a black belt that matched his; except smaller in scale — that was hidden behind his green silk shirt. The leather belt was looped through a pair of dark blue jeans. The jeans were a little crinkled every now and then, but overall they were smooth. Since the pants were still a bit too long for him, their ends had to be folded inward to keep the material from dragging against the floor and getting dirty. The folded edge rested perfectly against his black sneakers; that were laced as they were expected to be.

The young boy wore only three pieces of jewelry. On his right wrist was a silver watch. The watch held three smaller clocks in it; a watch that would normally be difficult for others to understand, but he managed to read it like an expert despite his age. Hidden behind his sunset-colored hair was a pair of diamond earrings. The earrings were shaped like a square and on top of the small, platinum bar that held it in place. And finally, around his neck was a necklace. The necklace was made of black string; the cloth of the string being cotton, with a silver tube underneath to helped keep its shape.

The single, lone pendant of the necklace was once a large white pearl. A piece of it had been cut and smoothed down to create the somewhat shell-shaped pendant that hung from his neck. Engraved into it in black was his name: _Hitomi_. On the inside of the pearl locket was a message from his family, but no picture of them. Instead, the same insignia was painted inside in gold.

Hitomi descended the steps while holding onto the railing; a frown on his face. Then his expression completely changed as he spotted his gaming device. He finished descending the steps quickly and grabbed onto the silver-colored handheld and immediately began to inspect it for any damages.

"Hey!" Someone shouted. "Put that down!" The outburst caused all eyes to shift from the young boy, to his identical brother standing at the top of the set of steel stairs — who, after seeing his brother holding the device, hurried down.

While the boy held the same face and features as Hitomi, he was, of course, dressed differently than him.

He wore a simple, short-sleeved white cotton shirt. On top of the white shirt was a red hoodie. The hoodie was made of breathable material that made it perfect for the summer weather (in fact, it was specifically made to keep others cool during that time). It was unzipped, open, and the sleeves were rolled-up a little because they were too long for him. On the area where his left breast was, on the sweater, the same symbol that was placed on his brother's shirt pocket was printed there in gold, as well.

He, too, wore a black belt looped in jeans, but his jeans were black and were just the right size for him, so he didn't have the edges folded inward like his brother did. The ends of his pants rested on top of his white sneakers; that were also tied to perfection and securely placed on his feet.

Unlike his brother, he didn't have his hair resting against his head and neck. Instead, he had all of his identically-colored sunset-orange hair picked-up and tied back into a ponytail. His hair stuck out at the ends after two inches or so after passing the simple orange-colored hair-tie that was nearly invisible in his orange hair. But like his brother, his bangs also parted in the upper left corner of his forehead, and they followed the same motion; doing the same thing to his brother's matching eyes that it did to his own.

Also similar to his brother, he wore the same earrings that he did; placed on his ears in the same way. Instead of maintaining its regular silver color, his watch was tinted gray, but it held the same design to it. The very same necklace, made of the same material that his brother's was made of, hung from his neck. The main difference was that, obviously, the name imprinted on it was different: _Hitoshi_.

Finally having reached his brother, Hitoshi wasted no time in trying to grab the device from his brother's hands. Being the same in height, Hitomi knew that his brother could easily reach his hand. So he placed his free hand on his brother's chest and began to push him back; while at the same time leaning back on the tips of his toes.

Hitoshi began to struggle in his goal at getting the silver-painted device, due to his brother's actions. But he didn't give-up. Instead he began to jump.

"I said _stop already_!" The outburst came from the final passenger of the aircraft. Her eyes were narrowed in anger as she looked at the scene. She let out an agitated groan before quickly making her way down the steel steps.

The young female had the height and body-type of your average eight-year-old girl. She was very pretty. Her hair color matched that of Hitomi and Hitoshi's perfectly. Only, her hair was straighter than theirs was. It was cut in a bob with the ends only slightly curved at the tips. Her bangs were parted in a way similar to theirs, and the bigger strands of her bangs that were moving to the right, were pinned behind her ear; her bob going over this area and hiding the pins used. The other side was combed so that it didn't get in the way of her vision, and naturally moved behind her bob.

Because her bangs were effectively pulled back, her eyes were 100% visible to others. She held the same green-hazel eyes as Raiden had; the edges of her pupils were even darkened as well. They looked amazing against her peach skin-tone. Her lips were nicely moisturized with clear lip-balm; somehow enhancing both their shape and color.

For clothing, she wore a short-sleeved white graphic t-shirt. The design was of both dark purple and dark blue glittery swirls that overlapped each other and then went in different directions. The print started at the right corner of her shirt, and ended near her left breast. Attached to her shirt, was a skirt; making the overall ensemble a dress. The skirt was dark-blue colored and held a thin layer of sparkles on it. The skirt of the dress ended just above her knees.

The skin of her legs was perfectly hidden behind her simple, white pantyhose. Hiding the fabric over her feet was a pair of short boots; that reached up to about five-inches above her ankles. The boots were a polished black color, and held one-inch heels that were an inch thick. The zippers of the boots were placed on the curved side of her foot. There were two belts that accessorized the boots; they overlapped each other at the sides, and their buckles were diamond-encrusted platinum hearts.

Slung over her torso was a black messenger bag. The bag was decorated with a brightly stitched and scripted _K_ on top of a serious of darkly-colored swirls that were outlined by a brighter shade of their color. The medium-sized messenger bag rested on her left hip, with the strap on her right shoulder.

On her wrist were a series of rubber bracelets. They were all made of the same material and held random designs and sayings on them; many of them written in foreign languages. The bracelets were greatly favored among children her age, and she enjoyed wearing them whenever she could. Today, to her delight, being one of those days.

One of her only two pieces of jewelry was a pair of earrings. The earrings were a small silver string attached to a silver ball that kept it placed on her ear. At the other end of the short, two-centimeter-long string was a silver heart pendant with a small diamond placed where the hearts curved in after the humps. And finally, a necklace perfectly identical to the ones the two young boys wore, hung from her neck. Once again, the only difference being the name placed on it: _Kiyomi_.

Reaching the two boys, she quickly snatched the device from Hitomi's hand; grasping their attention instantly.

"Hey!" They both shouted at her.

"You two and your silly video games…" The girl, Kiyomi, stated as she looked down at them with her eyes narrowed, and annoyance swimming in them. "You should be studying and training instead of playing these. Jeez…"

Not listening at all, Hitoshi said, "Give it back!"

"No. I'm confiscating this until further notice." She then placed the object inside of her messenger bag. She made sure that the zipper was zipped, and that the cover was perfectly latched on before huffing a breath at her twin brothers. "You can get it back once you behave."

"You can't do that," Hitomi said in a much calmer voice than Hitoshi. "You're not our parent."

"No. But I am older than you and therefore you have to listen to me. Now, apologize for causing such a delay." She ordered them as she crossed her arms over her chest. The two boys did no such thing and instead glared at their older sister. Kiyomi did the same. "Well? I'm waiting."

"Okaa-san!" They both shouted in unison; turning towards their mother. Kotone heaved another sigh; knowing perfectly well what was about to happen.

"Boys…" But it was no use. Immediately after calling out to her, Kotone watched as her twin boys began to talk to her at the same time. Their voices were so identical to one another. She couldn't tell which one was speaking, or follow any of the words that were said.

Turning to Yamuhira, Kotone said, "See. This is why they're both so exhausting. And while Kiyomi does tend to help, a quarter of the time, she just helps to fan the flames, or even start the fire." Yamuhira gave her a knowing smile.

"Don't worry Kotone, I'm sure it'll get easier as they grow older." Yamuhira said. A glint of hope shone in Kotone's white eyes.

"I'm praying for that time, Yamuhira." She said with a tired smile. The statement made the woman let out a brief laugh; momentarily placing her hand over her mouth to ensure that it would not get inappropriately loud like it had been when she was a young girl.

Kotone's sadness went away as she simply grinned at her friend; Yamuhira always did find simple things amusing. Then again, she always enjoyed making people laugh. It worked.

"Boys…" Finally, the two's attention was drawn to their father as his voice sounded; the tone being one that they were far-too-familiar with, to their liking. "Stop arguing. It's making us waste time and given how your birthday celebration is in a few hours, time is not something that we have to waste." He stated.

"But Otou-san—"

Their father raised a hand to shush the two; it worked. Their mouths closed shut as soon as the appendage went up.

"No complaining. Now, throw-out all thoughts of that game from your mind, and greet the Onagi Family. They've been waiting here for us for quite a while now, and it'd be rude if we didn't acknowledge them." Raiden stated. Not willing to talk back against their father, the boys, and Kiyomi, stood before the two adults of the Onagi Family.

"Hello Mr. and Mrs. Onagi." The three children said politely. A smile was on Kiyomi's face, while Hitomi and Hitoshi had blank expressions.

"Hello." Ikoroku said as he looked down at the three children. "How have you three been?" He asked.

"The usual, Mr. Onagi." Kiyomi immediately spoke-up.

"I see… that bad, huh?" He joked. Kiyomi giggled.

"Well, what else do you expect from these two?" She asked as she gestured towards the twins. They looked up at her with glares on their faces; their expressions causing Ikoroku to chuckle. Beside him, his wife also did the same thing; giggling.

"Well I'm certain that you're helping to keep them on track, correct?" Yamuhira asked as she looked at the young girl. Kiyomi nodded her head.

"Of course. I am the eldest child after all, and it's my job to not only pay attention to my studies, but also make sure that my little… brothers aren't causing any mischief." She stated politely. The sound of someone sucking on their teeth reached her ears, and she looked down at Hitoshi.

"What?" He asked.

"That's rude."

"Whatever…" The young boy mumbled.

Kiyomi glared down at him before sighing. _Jeez, little brothers…_ She unhappily thought.

"You're quite the responsible child, Kiyomi." Yamuhira said. A small hint of a blush appeared on Kiyomi's face before she smiled up at the older female.

"Thank you, Mrs. Onagi. I try my best." She responded.

Yamuhira smiled at the girl before looking down at the silent twins. "Happy birthday, boys." She said to them.

"Thank you Mrs. Onagi." They replied in monotone unison.

"Are you excited for your celebration, tonight?" She asked them.

"Of course!" Hitoshi replied; being the more positive of the twin brothers. "It's going to be awesome! Okaa-san said that I could cut the cake first." He said with a grin on his face. His statement immediately grasped Hitomi's attention.

"What?" He asked.

Hitoshi turned to him with a grin. "That's right. _I'm _cutting the cake first. Oh but don't worry, you can go second, Hitomi." He said with a teasing grin; triumph shining in his eyes. This caused his twin brother to deliver a harsh glare at him before turning to look-up at their mother.

"Okaa-san," he said. "Did you really say that to him?"

Kotone mentally sighed. _I know where this is headed… _She thought forlornly; before responding to her child. "Yes Hitomi. I did say that Hitoshi could cut the cake first, this year." She stated. As expected, Hitomi gained a somewhat shocked expression on his face before glaring.

"Why? I'm the oldest. I've always cut the cake first. Why does he get to do it?" Hitomi asked; not liking the fact that one of his perks of being the older twin was being taken away from him that year.

"Hitomi, you always get to do it. I think it's only fair that Hitoshi gets to do it this year." Kotone said.

"So? If he wanted to cut the cake first so badly, then he should've been _born first_." Hitomi stated. His statement caused his mother to frown. "This isn't fair at all. You're taking away one of my benefits at being older."

"Hitomi…"

"No. If he's going to cut the cake first, then I'm not going."

Kotone sighed. "Hitomi, don't act like that."

"Yeah. Stop acting like such a big baby." Hitoshi said. Hitomi snapped his head towards him with a menacing glare on his face.

"I'm not the big baby. You're the big baby. No. I was born first. You're the little baby. The _very little _baby, and that's the exact reason why I should get to cut the cake first, and _not you_." Hitomi commented back. Not a moment later, the twins were once again having one of their infamous heated arguments.

_They can't be serious…_ Kotone thought. She couldn't believe that her boys were arguing over such a simple thing. And it didn't look the argument would be ending any time soon.

Distressed, she turned towards Kiyomi. Her one-and-only daughter was frowning as she looked down at her brothers. "Kiyomi…" She said; catching the girl's attention. Kiyomi looked at her mother and Kotone nodded her head; a secret gesture of theirs. Kiyomi nodded her head, back.

Then the female placed herself behind her brothers, and put one of her hands on their shoulders. She tightened her grip before delivering a brief shock to them.

"Gah!" They both exclaimed; stopping their fight. Quickly regaining their composure, they turned their gaze up to their big sister. "Why did you do that?!" They asked her in unison. Kiyomi crossed her hands over her chest.

"Okaa-san needs to speak to you two. You're being very rude." Kiyomi said.

The boys groaned; turning their heads to look at their mother. She was staring down at them with annoyance swimming in her white eyes. "You two need to stop arguing. It's very impolite and a waste of time." She started.

"Hitomi, you're being selfish. Your brother is going to cut the cake and that decision is final." She raised her hand up at him to stop speaking before he could reply. A, _but_,forming on his lips. "Now stop being foolish, and apologize for your behavior to your brother."

"Okaa-san—"

"Do it Hitomi." She commanded. Hitomi groaned before begrudgingly turning towards his brother. He was silent, a look close to a pout on his face, as he stayed looking down at the ground. "_Hitomi_…" His mother warned.

He sighed.

"I… I'm… sorry, Hitoshi…" Hitomi said.

"And?" His mother urged.

The little boy groaned. "And… you can… cut the cake first — but _I _get the first piece." He immediately added. "And it better be the biggest piece there."

"Hitomi…" Kotone sighed.

Hitoshi shrugged. "Fine." He responded, to their surprise.

But Kotone was the least surprised. She was just glad that the fight over the cake was finally over. _Twins…_

* * *

><p>The greetings were over, and the children were now separated from the adults. As their parents went off to speak about things pertaining to the final details for the twins' birthday, the children went-off to play in one of the gardens that the large palace held.<p>

As the children walked, the three youngest ones led the way, while the oldest walked behind them; monitoring them. The two separate groups each having their own conversations; Yuki and Kiyomi were discussing how their training was going, and showing each other a few of the things that they've learned and speaking about their upcoming training, and Yayuki, Hitomi and Hitoshi were discussing the twins' birthday.

"Is there going to be anyone singing at your birthday?" Yayuki asked the twin boys; being in the middle of their makeshift line.

"We're not sure." Hitomi responded; being the one that was more invested in the details of the birthday, than his brother was (he was more focused on the things that benefited him). "But I do know that Kiyomi is going to perform." He watched as Yayuki's purple eyes went wide; sparkling with happiness.

"Really?" She asked. Hitomi nodded.

"She's going to be playing the violin. She's been practicing the music all week." He stated.

"Wow." Yayuki said. "Are you going to perform, Hitomi-kun?" She asked. She knew that Hitomi also played musical instruments; the piano, to be exact. And she loved it whenever he played. The sound was so beautiful.

Hitomi shook his head. "No…" He said. He watched as her eyes immediately saddened. A frown formed on her face as she looked away from him. Hitomi's eyes filled with brief shock. "Onagi-chan…"

"No need to be upset, Yayuki-chan," Hitoshi said as he noticed her new demeanor. "My birthday is still going to be awesome. In fact, it's going to be a lot better since Hitomi's _not _playing an instrument during it." The older twin frowned as he looked at what he considered to be his copy.

"It's _our _birthday, Hitoshi." Hitomi said.

"Whatever…" Hitoshi said. Hitomi rolled his eyes at his brother. He would've commented back had Hitoshi not begun to speak once again. "So what are you planning to do at _our _birthday tonight, Yayuki?" Hitoshi asked her.

Yayuki looked up at him. "What do you mean?" She asked.

"Well there's gonna be tons of stuff to do. I just wanted to know if you're going to dance or just stay at your parent's side all the time." Hitoshi said.

"What are you planning?" Hitomi immediately ask; suspecting his brother of having a secret agenda.

"What do you mean?" Hitoshi asked.

"I know you're planning to do something, Hitoshi," Hitomi said; giving his brother a stern glare. "And I'm not gonna let you do it." His brother grinned; causing Hitomi to raise an eyebrow.

"Relax. I was just planning to ask Yayuki-chan if she wanted to dance with me, tonight."

"Really?" Yayuki asked as she looked to her left, at Hitoshi.

Hitoshi nodded; a light blush on his face. "Well yeah. I mean… I really want to dance with you at my birthday, Yayuki. So… do you want to?" He asked. Yayuki's face took on a shade of pink, completely visible on her pale skin, and she looked down and away from Hitoshi; her hands fumbling with each other.

_W-what do I do?_ Yayuki thought. _I… I want to dance with him, but… but… Hitomi-kun… how is he going to feel about it? _She wasn't sure if Hitomi would like it that she would be dancing with his brother, at _their _birthday. She was both of their friends. She felt that it would be very rude if she said _yes _to Hitoshi and ended-up ignoring Hitomi the entire night. It wouldn't be fair…

But at the same time… she can't just turn him down. That would be rude and she was never one to do such things. She was raised to be polite, and a part of that was not denying a dance from someone who wished to dance with her…

"Okay, Hitoshi-bou…" Yayuki finally said after much deliberation. She smiled up at the boy. "I would love to dance with you, tonight."

"Really?" Hitoshi asked; happily surprised.

Yayuki nodded. "Yes, but… I also would like to dance with Hitomi-kun, too… I think that would be fair, right?" She asked the two boys; momentarily turning to look at Hitomi.

"You don't have to dance with me." Hitomi said. Yayuki's eyes widened with sadness.

"Hitomi-kun…?" She questioned.

"I don't mind if you only dance with Hitoshi, Onagi-chan." Hitomi said as he looked straight ahead at the upcoming pond; his hands dug in the front pockets of his jeans. "I'll be busy, myself. So it's not as if I would've had time to dance with you." He stated.

Yayuki felt her heart squeeze painfully. She looked away from Hitomi; biting her lower lip. _Hitomi-kun…_ She thought. _Why… why don't you want to dance with me?_ Even though he had said it was because he would be busy, Yayuki knew that Hitomi would only be occupied for a few minutes at his birthday celebration. There was no way his parents would not allow him to enjoy it, himself. _Is it… is it because you don't like me?_

The idea hurt her to think about.

"Don't worry Yayuki-chan," Hitoshi said; noticing her expression and knowing all-too-well that it was because of his twin brother. "You and I are gonna have tons of fun tonight." Hitoshi placed his right arm over Yayuki's back, landing on her arm, near her shoulder, and brought her in more. Yayuki looked up at him; he smiled down at her. "I promise."

The bright smile made Yayuki raise the edges of her lips a little and give him a sad one. "Thank you, Hitoshi-bou." She said softly. She couldn't help it as she leaned into Hitoshi; needing the embrace of someone at the moment.

Hitomi, seeing the display that would look friendly to others, felt the urge to shoot his brother down.

* * *

><p>The pond that they arrived at was quite large. It was more the size of a small lake than an actual pond. It was framed by stones that had been cut and shaped into rectangles, and used to build a border around the large body of water. The border was around three-feet tall, looking similar to a stone fence.<p>

But even though its height was specifically constructed to keep little children from falling inside, a second wall of stone was placed in front of the first one — that was five stones wide and two stones tall — built to help the small children look over the wall's edge; but not enough where their bodies could hang above the water.

Sprouting around the stone border were various, beautiful colorful flowers. They were each bright in their design, and gave the area a nice florescent scent. On top of the water were lily pads — some with flowers, some without — that gently moved with the water. Of course, there were creatures that normally lived near ponds, resting in and outside of the water.

Two stone benches were placed three feet away from the pond, and placed at the north, east, south, and west sections of the pond. The stone benches were simple slabs of rectangular shaped stone that had been placed together so that two small ones were used as the legs, and one long rectangle placed on top of them; creating the seats — of course, this stone was smoothed down to perfection to allow maximum comfort. The benches were set so that they would have created a ninety degree angle if their ends were pushed closer to each other.

As soon as they all neared the pond, the children went to the water's edge; while Yuki and Kiyomi took a seat at the bench closest to their little siblings.

"Be careful, Imouto-chan." Yuki said as he watched Yayuki stand on the tips of her toes to get a better view over the stone fence. Hearing her brother's voice, Yayuki turned back to look at him; nodding her head.

"Don't worry Nii-san, I will." She said.

"The same goes for you two, Hitomi and Hitoshi." Kiyomi said as she sat at the bench unoccupied by Yuki; sitting directly across from him.

"Whatever." She heard them both reply. She rolled her green-hazel eyes. Yuki chuckled at her.

"It must be nice to have a sister like Yayuki, Yuki-senpai." Kiyomi said as she looked across from her at the older male. Yuki stopped chuckling; a grin on his face.

"She's a sweet little girl, alright. But I bet your brothers can be the same at times, Kiyomi-kouhai." At this, Kiyomi snorted. Almost immediately, a blush appeared on her face a second after; Yuki having raised an eyebrow at her unladylike sound, along with a grin on his face.

"I—I mean—" Kiyomi started; clearly embarrassed. "They… they have their moments when they're… _not _arguing, and not being selfish and not causing mischief, but saying that they sometimes act like Yayuki… That term can't be applied to them, _at all_. I _wish _they acted like she does, but, sadly, they don't." Kiyomi clarified; her blush having gone down during her explanation, to her relief.

"But those moments when they're… behaved, you enjoy them, right?" He asked. Kiyomi nodded.

"It's much easier to handle them during those times… They're a lot calmer and more open to being asked to do things…" She momentarily sighed; crossing her legs and placing her elbows on them, before resting her head on top of her hands. "I wish they were like that all the time…" She mumbled.

Her eyes unconsciously turned back towards the scene as she watched her little brothers and Yayuki begin to interact with the main inhabitants of the pond; giant koi fish whose lengths went up to five-feet. She watched as Hitoshi took-out some of the fish-feed he had brought with him, out of the pocket of his sweater, and began to feed the oversized fish.

"Hitoshi, be careful! You don't want them to grab your hand and pull you in, do you?" She warned.

"Okay, okay; I'll be careful." Hitoshi responded. He threw some of the fish-food into the air, and watched as a black and white koi fish leaped out of the water to grab the food in its mouth, before splashing back in. He laughed as some of the pond water hit him.

_He's going to get a cold… _Kiyomi thought. But then she dismissed the thought; remembering that even if she warned him, Hitoshi wouldn't care and just keep doing what he's doing. Because of this, she switched her gaze over to where Hitomi was. She wasn't surprised at all to see that he was standing with Yayuki, at the west side of the pond. The two seemed to be having a conversation, and she just knew that they picked that spot so that others wouldn't hear it.

She sighed.

"What's the matter, Kiyomi?" Yuki asked, having picked-up the sound of her sigh.

"Look at Hitomi and Yayuki." She immediately said.

Yuki did so and spotted his little sister having a conversation with Hitomi. He noticed how she seemed a little upset as she ran her hands over a baby one-foot koi fish with white and orange scales. He couldn't help but lightly frown, himself.

"I wonder what they're talking about." He stated.

"I don't need to wonder. I _know _what they're talking about." Kiyomi said. Yuki turned to her; meeting her gaze.

"You do?" She nodded. "How?"

"I heard Hitoshi ask her to dance."

* * *

><p>"So… you don't hate me…" Yayuki said as she removed her hand from the baby koi fish, which she had named <em>Aki<em>, and placed her small hands on the stone fence; still staring into the water and watching Aki as he swam around a few times and disappeared under the water every now and then.

"I… I could never hate you…" Hitomi said; a light blush on his face. Yayuki gained her own matching one, and turned away from him in order to hide it.

"T-then why don't you w-want to dance with me?" She asked.

"I told you. I—"

"Hitomi-kun," Yayuki said as she cut him off and turned to him. "I know that's not the whole truth… I don't think your parents will make you work so hard on your birthday…" Hitomi looked away from her and down into the water. He placed a finger on the water's surface and began to move it around.

But he was forced to pull his hand back as a koi fish, who had mistaken his finger for food, leaped out of the water a little in order to snatch his finger. "Gah!" He exclaimed as he managed to pull his hand away in time.

"Hitomi-kun!" Yayuki exclaimed as she looked at Hitomi's fisted hand. Her eyes glistened with worry. "A-are you alright?" She asked. Her eyes stayed focused on his hand as Hitomi lifted his fingers one-by-one. She heaved a sigh of relief as she noticed that he had all five of his fingers, there.

"I'm sorry." She immediately said.

"What for?" Hitomi asked; confused at her sudden apology.

"I—I should've warned you to not put your finger in the water… unless it's your whole hand, the fish will think it's food and they'll… you know…" She said meekly.

"It's alright." Hitomi said. "I should've known better. It's my first time coming to this pond and I wasn't careful enough."

"So… I'm forgiven?" Yayuki asked.

Hitomi nodded. "It wasn't your fault, to begin with. So I see no reason to—" He was cut-off as Yayuki wrapped her arms around his waist and began to hug him. Immediately a blush began to spread over his face as he felt her against him. The blush only grew as she lifted her face to look at him; a dazzling smile on her face that made her look beautiful to him.

The thought almost made him mimic a strawberry.

"Thank you, Hitomi-kun." She said. Before he could ask, she said, "For not being mad at me and… for not hating me." She lowered her head to hug him again, and Hitomi couldn't help himself as he wrapped his arms around her and returned the hug; his cheek resting on her head.

He could feel his heart pound at how close she was to him. Her sweet scent that consisted of various scents mixed together, filled his nose.

_So sweet… she's so sweet…_ He couldn't help but think as he tightened his grip on her. He knew that he could very easily fall asleep holding her like that. There was just something about her that made him comfortable and relaxed. He didn't know what it was, but he also didn't mind _not knowing_. Because knowing it or not didn't change the fact that she was probably the only female his age that he didn't mind getting close to…

"I have something for you." He murmured against her hair.

"Hm?" He heard her sound. He moved back a little to allow her to raise her head and look at him. Judging by the color of her eyes, he could tell that she had been dozing off, as well.

_She's that comfortable with me…_

"What is it, Hitomi-kun?" She asked. He fully removed himself from her.

"Wait here." He said. Yayuki gave him a curious look before Hitomi began to jog off. She watched as he went over to Kiyomi, and seemed to ask her for something.

_He has a present for me…_ Yayuki thought as she watched Kiyomi began to search through her messenger bag for whatever it was that Hitomi wanted. _I… I wonder what it is… _She felt her heart begin to pound as Kiyomi handed something to her little brother, and Hitomi began to jog back over to her. When he finally stood in front of her, Yayuki stared down at a white envelope with her name written on it, in what she knew was Hitomi's handwriting.

"What's that?" She asked.

"It's an invitation." Hitomi said.

"For your birthday?" Yayuki questioned; a confused look appearing on her face. "I… I thought I was already invited." It hurt her to think that she hadn't originally been invited to his birthday, but she was glad to hear that that wasn't the case.

"No. You've always been invited. This is an invitation to come with me to the opening of Surira, next week." Yayuki's eyes went wide.

"Really?" She asked.

Hitomi nodded. "It's a special pass. I got it as an early birthday present from my grandparents, and we get all sorts of perks and stuff for arriving with them." Hitomi watched as the emotion on Yayuki's face began to dim.

"If your grandparents gave them to you, shouldn't you take Hitoshi-bou instead of me?" She asked. Hitomi shook his head.

"I want to take you." He said. His comment made her eyes widen as a dark red blush covered the pale skin on her face. He'd be lying if he said that he wasn't blushing himself; he just fought furiously to hold it back.

But he failed miserably when, after grabbing the envelope, Yayuki moved forward and planted a kiss on his cheek. He could've sworn he felt his heart skip a beat, and he hoped that the same thing happened to her.

Once she pulled back, he felt as if his breath had been knocked out of him when he looked at her face.

She looked so beautiful to him. Her face was covered in her blush, and her eyes were the brightest that he had ever seen them as; but they still held that certain shy look in them that, honestly, worked for her so well.

"Thank you… Hitomi-kun…" Yayuki said as she held the envelope tightly in her hand. "You're so sweet."

"Onagi-chan…" Hitomi said. He could still feel his heart pound as he looked at her. He could still feel her lips against his left cheek; and the urge to bring his fingertips there and touch it, was overwhelming. But he held himself back — because the urge to touch her and bring her in close and hold her, like before, was also strong.

_I want you close…_

The sound of a large splash of water brought them out of their moment. They both turned their heads to see a very large koi fish, most likely the largest in the whole pond, swim around in a circle near them. Not able to help herself, Yayuki leaned over a little to get a better look at the fish; furrowing her eyebrows as she noticed that its scales were green and white.

But its weird coloring was quickly forgotten as she noticed the scar on its back. She gasped.

"What's wrong?" Hitomi asked.

"It's hurt." She said. She leaned over more and reached out with her free hand that was not holding her invitation, to touch the fish. She ran it along the scales a few centimeters away from the long, red gash. "I wonder what caused this…"

"Could it be another fish?" Hitomi asked as he too looked at the hurt creature.

"Not possible, they're all nice." Yayuki said. "The poor thing… it needs help." She then turned to Hitomi and handed the invitation back to him. "Can you please hold this for a second, Hitomi-kun? I want to go get some of the food that Hitoshi-bou brought, so I can feed it and maybe make it feel better."

Hitomi nodded; gladly taking the envelope back now that he knew that it wasn't her just suddenly declining his invitation.

With the envelope in hand, he watched as Yayuki quickly ran over to his brother, got some fish-feed, and then was back at his side in around a minute. He placed the envelope in his back pocket as he freed his hands; ready in case anything like what happened to him earlier, happened to her now.

"Here fishy…" Yayuki said as she held out her left hand to the fish, while her right hand clutched the stone wall. "Have some food." The koi fish moved in a circle once again before stopping its body directly in front of hers. Its head raised out of the water as it began to grasp for the food.

Yayuki got closer to the large fish as she tried to put the food directly in his mouth. Seeing this, Hitomi grew worried.

"Be careful, Onagi-chan." He said as he noticed just how close to the fish her hand was getting. Yayuki smiled at the sound of his worried tone.

"Don't worry Hitomi-kun; I've done this a lot and am always careful." She stated to him with a smile.

But Hitomi remained worried.

When her hand was finally inside the fish's open mouth, Yayuki dropped the food in and then began to move her hand back. But a gasp escaped her throat as, while she was slowly pulling her hand away, a new, much larger black-clad hand popped out of the fish's mouth and grasped her smaller one.

"Ahhh!" She screamed as she felt it began to pull her.

"Yayuki!" Hitomi shouted as he wrapped his hands around her waist and began to pull her back. But he was slowly failing as the hand, much stronger than him, successfully began to pull her closer to it.

"What's going on?!" He could hear Yuki shout. But he couldn't respond as he watched, shocked, as out of the koi fish's mouth began to come-out a body.

It was of a large male dressed in a full-body black rubber suit; the only visible feature being his eyes that were the same green color as the fish's scales. Not a second after he was fully revealed, three more bodies dressed in the same suit, popped out of the water and began to charge at the children.

Yayuki was forced out of Hitomi's grip as the man punched Hitomi in the head, and easily pulled her up. He swung her over his shoulder before taking off towards where a large wall was placed over the private residence. "Hitomi!" Yayuki shouted as she watched him drop and get further away from her; tears beginning to spill from her eyes.

Meanwhile, the other men began to attack Yuki, Kiyomi and Hitoshi.

While their instincts told them to create a barrier to protect themselves, Yuki and Kiyomi had no time to do so as, out of nowhere, strange black guns appeared in the hands of the three black-suited men. The men wasted no time in pulling their triggers and shooting at the two.

"Look-out!" Yuki shouted as he jumped on top of Kiyomi and brought her down to the ground; trying to protect her from one of the fast-flying bullets. Kiyomi groaned as his entire body weight slammed down on her. But she had no time to dwell on that pain. The man was still shooting at them.

"Gah!" She screamed as she felt something stab into her arm. Turning her head to look at it, she noticed that it was a bullet; it was a dark green color and had a long needle attached to the end. Almost all of the needle was in her arm. She immediately recognized the green-needled sphere as a special type of tranquilizing bullet — her vision started to go black; her eyelids growing heavy by the seconds, and her breathing becoming labored.

"Kiyomi!" Yuki shouted as he noticed her eyelids begin to shut. "Don't fall asleep! Stay awa—ngh!" He was cut-off as he felt the same stabbing pain that Kiyomi had felt, in his back. His mind began to go into a frenzy, and his head started to throb. He could feel his strength fading him quickly; it was difficult to keep his arms straight in order to raise his upper body over Kiyomi.

"Y-yuki…" Kiyomi said. "T-they… they're… they're… n-neutral-i-zers…" She slurred; using the last bits of strength that her entire body carried.

_I see…_ Yuki thought. _They're tranquilizing us… but why?_

His arms were beginning to shake; the muscles growing too weak to continue to hold his body up. By the time he could see the vision in his eyes going black, Kiyomi had already shut her eyes — unconscious.

He was close to doing the same as her until he heard his little sister's distinct scream; calling out his name. "Yuki!"

_Yayuki… I… I have to save her…_ Calling upon whatever leftover energy he had, Yuki slowly got to his feet; being very careful not to harm Kiyomi's unconscious body in any way. He didn't care about the fact that he could barely move the muscles in his legs. All he cared about what that his little sister was in danger. She needed help.

He started to run.

"Give her back!" He shouted as he continued to struggle to run. "Give back my sister!" But it was useless. One of the men who was running alongside the one carrying Yayuki, noticed him. He turned his head back and lifted the gun; quickly shooting at him.

The bullet hit Yuki's shoulder and he fell back against the grass from the force of it (groaning in pain as the needle in his back dug itself deeper inside of him); the combined amounts of the liquid in the two bullets that had struck him, and the stabbing pain in his back, caused him to shut his eyes. But before he became fully unconscious, he heard someone say, "Don't worry Yuki! I'll get her!" He briefly saw a flash of orange before his eyes closed.

Meanwhile, Hitomi groaned as he began to sit-up. His hand immediately went up to his head where the man had hit him. It was a hard blow. And it managed to knock him down, but it wasn't hard enough to make him go unconscious.

_W-what—_ His thoughts were cut-off as a high-pitched, girlish scream reached his ears. Immediately everything flooded back to him, and his eyes went wide. "Yayuki!" He shouted. He wasted no time in running towards the group of men as he finally spotted them running away, vertical to him. He sped-up his pace as he noticed the familiar shade of sunset-orange that was tailing them. _What is Hitoshi doing?! He can't do this on his own! _He grit his teeth and sped-up his pace as he watched his younger brother try to rescue Yayuki, on his own.

Hitoshi had managed to send a pulse of electricity into the ground in front of him — that shocked all of the men; briefly forcing them to stop as the voltage coursed through their veins with no mercy intended.

(The only down-side being that Yayuki also got hit with the electricity, and screamed out in pain).

"Give her back!" Hitoshi shouted as he continued to send in more and more amounts of electricity; increasing the number of watts that he put into it.

"Someone stop the kid!" One of the men managed to shout-out in a gruff and pained voice.

"Give! Her! Back!" Hitoshi shouted as he continued to stomp his feet on the ground as if he were a spoiled child, angry that his parents hadn't provided him with what he wanted. "Give! Her! Back! Give! Her! Back!"

The men began to recoil in pain as they felt their veins begin to burst inside of them.

"Leave the girl!" One of them, who had suffered more than he could handle, shouted at their leader; the man who was currently holding onto Yayuki.

"No!" The leader groaned out. Fighting through the pain, he began to move his free hand to his side. Unlike the others, there was a utility belt around his waist that held three black pouches attached to it. He reached into the one in the middle, and pulled out a capped medical syringe filled with black liquid inside of it. By the time he had it in his hand, Hitomi had arrived at the scene and Hitoshi stopped sending currents of electricity into the ground.

"Give her back or I'll do it again!" Hitoshi exclaimed; his eyes burning with anger as he looked at the four-man group.

The leader huffed as he looked at the twins. His green eyes widened in recognition as he realized just who they were — or more specifically, what family they belonged to.

Yayuki groaned as she slowly started to recover from the shock. She spat-out blood on the perfectly-cut green grass. This did not go unnoticed by any of the men who were trying to abduct her, nor Hitomi and Hitoshi.

"Hitoshi… Hitomi… H-help…" They heard her soft mumble. She was close to going unconscious, but willed herself to stay awake. This was easier to do for a few moments as the man holding her, uncapped the syringe, and stuck the needle into the back of her leg. "Ah!" She shouted as the large needle pierced through her skin, painfully.

"Stop hurting her!" Hitoshi shouted.

"Grab one of them!" The leader commanded as he finished injecting Yayuki with the black liquid; only about three-twelfths of it left in the syringe. He wasted no time in starting to run again now that he had the young girl drugged.

Yayuki could feel her mind going hazy. She could feel everything passing her in a blur. She had barely managed to register one of the men going to grab Hitomi, and Hitoshi pushing his brother away. The man then adapted to the situation and changed his target; grabbing Hitoshi instead, before beginning to run. He managed to pass the leader.

Not a second later, Hitomi was up and running after him.

"Put me down! Put me down!" Hitoshi shouted as he struggled in the man's grip. He was close to making the man immobile with a powerful shock of electricity until he felt something stab him in the side. It was the same needle that had been used on Yayuki, moments earlier.

He could feel the fight in him begin to disperse as the drug started to take effect.

"Hitoshi! Yayuki!" Hitomi shouted as he channeled his energy into his legs and began to pick-up speed. He had managed to run fast enough to grab onto Yayuki's dangling hands as they hung down the man's back. "Let her go!" He shouted as he tried to keep-up with the pace.

"H-hi… Hitomi…" Yayuki mumbled as she looked down at her friend; sad and tired. The tears that were coming out of her eyes managed to hit his cheeks.

"Yayuki hold on!" Hitomi shouted at her. But his statement only made her cry harder.

"Hitomi…kun… l-let go…" In the back of her mind, she knew that he couldn't do it. She knew that there was no way that Hitomi could stop this man. And that made her cry harder. The tears flowed down her face as if they were mini-waterfalls.

_Hitomi-kun…_

"No!" He immediately shouted at her. "You jerk! Let her and my brother go! Let go of them now!"

"You brat!" The man shouted. He moved his free arm back and swung at Hitomi. The punch struck him in the stomach and knocked the wind out of him. He was forced to release Yayuki's hands and began to tumble backwards against the grass. "Shoot him." A final loud _bang _sounded as it struck Hitomi in the chest; an inch below were his necklace would normally rest.

As Hitomi slowly came to a stop, he clutched one hand over his wounded chest. He weakly reached his other hand out towards the black-clad men that were quickly getting further and further away from him. His hand shook as he reached out with all five of his fingers; wishing that he could somehow grasp his brother, and his female best friend. Frustrated tears streaming down his eyes as his action proved to be futile.

"Hitomi!" The unified shout was the last thing he heard before the pain and drugs became too much to handle, and he passed-out.

_Hitoshi… Yayuki… I'm sorry…_

* * *

><p>.<p>

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* * *

><p>Yep. That's it. I gotta say, I like this a lot better than the original first chapter — which will be edited and turned into the new second chapter, and the pattern will repeat with a few added chapters every now and then. So what do you think? I know. The beginning was slow and not much happened, but that was just to get in a picture of my characters and to show you guys their relationships to each other. Besides, it's the ending that's most important.<p>

Next chapter: A short scene involving what happened next after the abduction, and the rest of it will be the revised original first chapter of this story.

I hope you liked this and please review!

Xoxoxo Chibi Star Vamp


	2. Bunny Sanchez

The second revised chapter! I hope I'm not annoying anyone with the revision, but there were just _tons of things _that I realized were left-out in earlier chapters. And fixing them would've been hard to do without messing-up the storyline. So I'm rewriting it. But I promise it'll be better than the original. I swear! Of course, this also means that the first chapter's been completely altered (like, it holds none of the content of the original first chapter), and that to understand the first part of this, you have to read that one. I hope you don't mind.

I own _everything_!

Enjoy!

P.S. Second part of this, after the title, is a time-skip seven years, later. :)

* * *

><p><em>He continued to stare at the name that was written on the white parchment. There was a tugging in his heart as he continued to play with the edges of the envelope; his eyes still focused on the name.<em>

_Unconsciously, the face of the name appeared in his mind — smiling, at first, and then crying as they told him to let go._

_Their voice rung in his ears…_

"H-hi... Hitomi… Hitomi…kun… l-let go…"

_His heart twisted painfully._

She didn't believe in me… _He thought as he continued to play with envelope; his eyes focused intensely on the name, and slowly narrowing as his thoughts continued. _She didn't believe that I could save her… that I could help her… She thought I was **weak**…_ His lips twisted back into a frown as he came to that conclusion. _

But why wouldn't she? I got knocked-out… Hitoshi… he actually managed to harm the men taking her…_ He grit his teeth as his mind replayed the final scenes. _She probably thinks that he's the best… after all, he even saved me…

I'm so **weak**.

_He could feel his energy begin to flicker as his fingers began to tingle. His eyes focused intently on what was supposed to be a cheerful present, he saw the edges of the white envelope begin to crinkle and darken as they slowly started to burn._

It's because I'm weak… If I were stronger, I could've saved them… They wouldn't have been captured so easily…

I could've grabbed her.

_The edges began to burn more rapidly as the second-to-last scene he saw, replayed in his mind: as he held onto her hands, and she told him to release her — to let go of her… He could practically still feel her tears dropping on his cheeks…_

_Within moments, the letter was on fire. He watched as her name, which he had printed onto it with nothing but nervousness and butterflies in his stomach, began to burn along with the rest of the paper. His face stayed solemn and stoic, without emotion on it — even as people entered the room and noticed the lit fire._

_He remained silent and still as a nurse quickly grabbed the envelope, and doused it in water. He didn't care about the disapproving look that she gave him — knowing all-too-well that he had done that on purpose._

Could it be a suicide attempt? _She thought as she continued to stare at the emotionless boy in the hospital bed. The very thought that he would try such a thing—_

_She shook her head._

_No. Not him. He was too good of a boy to do that — to try and kill himself. And yet the fact that he purposely burned something, and did nothing to put it out…_

I should tell his parents…_ She thought; her resolve as hard as steel._

"_Don't." She heard him say as she reached the curtain that blocked the south entrance of his room. She froze as she heard his voice. "Don't say a thing… I'm fine."_

"_You tried to kill yourself." The nurse said; not turning to look back at him._

"_That wasn't it… I… just didn't want to see that…"_

"_Why?" She asked. She finally turned to him; her eyes filled with worry and curiosity. He looked away from the woman. Those emotions were too painful to look at…_

_When he remained silent, the nurse sighed. She decided that he wouldn't be answering her anytime soon, and that she shouldn't waste any more precious time tending to the quiet boy. And so she walked-out of the room, and couldn't help herself as she looked down at the burned paper in her hand._

_Her eyes widened as she noticed the all-too-familiar name printed onto it, in shiny golden ink:_

**Yayuki**

Could it be… that he is in pain from the earlier event? _She asked herself as she continued to look down at the burned name. Her fingers tightened on it. _Most likely… the poor thing…

_But she had no time to continue to dwell on the pain that her patient may be suffering, when the doors to the small hospital-like room opened, and in stepped her bosses, as well as their equally-as-powerful guests._

"_Onagi-heika, Itorashi-heika… hello." She immediately said with a bow as the four adults came over to her. _

"_Where are the children?" Ikoroku asked, immediately; not bothering to respond to the woman's greeting since there were _**more **_important things to think about than politeness._

_At this, the woman sighed; the adults all gained worried looks on their faces._

"_Are they alright?" Yamuhira asked._

"…_Onagi-hidenka is in surgery; there is a large tranquilizing dart deep inside of his back. I am told that he will be fine — his only reminder will be a light scar that will leave his body as time goes on…" She responded._

"_What about Yayuki?" Yamuhira asked._

_The nurse said: "Itorashi-denka is resting. She has some minor swelling on her back, and a stab wound on her left arm, but that is all. We have managed to remove the poison inside of her system, and have her using an IV until her blood arrives from the Mangametra Castle; she lost quite a lot…"_

_Yamuhira's black eyebrows furrowed. "What about Yayuki? What about my daughter?" _

_The nurse could feel a bubble grow in her throat as Yamuhira once again questioned her about her daughter. _How am I going to tell them the news? One of the guards should really be doing this… Not a nurse.

"_Itorashi-aniki-hidenka is awake. The poison has been removed from his body and his injuries have been treated. He lost less blood than Itorashi-denka, and therefore does not need a transfusion. There are wounds on his torso and head, but they will clear-up in no time with the proper medication."_

"_That is good to hear…" Raiden said. "But what about Hitoshi? How is he?" _

"_And what about Yayuki? You have been avoiding speaking about her since I first questioned you about her, Nurse Akira." Yamuhira said; a frown placed on her lips while worry danced in her eyes._

What has happened to my baby girl that has caused Akira to refuse to speak about her…? Is it that bad? _Her heart wrenched._

_Akira bit her bottom lip. _Now or never…

"_F-forgive me but… I have no information on the health of Onagi-denka, and Itorashi-otouto-hidenka…" She stated softly. This caused the adults to gain curious expressions on their faces._

"_Why not?" Kotone asked; confused as to why the two youngest children of each family were the only ones without health information provided._

"_Because… they… are not here…"_

"_What?" Ikoroku asked. "Explain, Akira."_

"_I—I am sorry to inform you that… that… b-both Onagi-denka and Itorashi-otouto-hidenka have been… taken." She said softly._

"_W-what do you mean by… _taken_?" Yamuhira asked; her heart beginning to pound harshly._

"_They were not recovered from the scene… Evidence that has been quickly gathered from there, has told us that they were both taken outside of the castle grounds by the invaders…" She bit her bottom lip._

"_No…" Kotone said; her eyes wide and her heart beating almost at the same rate as when she had given birth to her twins._

"_Forgive me…"_

"_Where is Hitomi?" Raiden asked. "You said that he is awake, correct?" Akira nodded. "Perhaps he can clear this misunderstanding…" He did not believe that his son was abducted by the persons whom invaded the castle. He simply couldn't._

_He knew his son. _

_He was a strong boy with a fierce attitude, who would not go down so easily… And despite his age, Raiden knew that Hitoshi would not allow himself to be abducted so easily…_

There must be a mistake…

"_Itorashi-aniki-hidenka is behind this curtain." Akira said as she gestured to the hung white cloth behind her. "Please, do not smother him. He is very fragile at the moment…" She said with a caring tone._

"_With his body?" Kotone asked. Akira shook her head._

"_His heart… Too much stimulation, and he may have an attack and cause harm to several things…" She warned._

_The adults did not fully understand what she meant, but nodded their heads. Led by his parents, the four slowly entered Hitomi's room — they found him with his upper body laid back on the bed, and his chin up as he stared at the ceiling. Immediately they noticed the large bandage pads covering the center of his chest, along with a spot on the left side of his stomach, near his belly button. They also took note of the gauze wrapped around his head._

"_Hitomi…" Kotone said gently as she entered the room a little more than the others. The soft sound of his mother's voice brought his head down._

_When he spotted her teary irises, he felt his heart drop to his stomach. He turned away from her, and all the others._

I can't face them…

"_Hitomi…" Kotone said softy as she got closer to her oldest boy. "Hitomi… please… tell us what happened…" She said softly as she grasped onto his right hand. She could feel him trying to tug his hand away from hers. "Hitomi, the nurse said that… that Hitoshi and Yayuki were abducted… is that true?" _

_He bit his bottom lip. He could feel his heart beginning to ache badly at the open mention of their names._

I was so weak… I couldn't save them…

_At his silence, Kotone tried again. "Hitomi, please, we need to know what happened. Hitoshi and Yayuki aren't here, and the report given to us said that they weren't found at the pond — where are they? Please sweetie, tell us what happened." When she reached up with her free hand to pull locks of his hair away from his face, she was surprised to see his hand move hers away._

"_You shouldn't touch me…" Hitomi muttered as he moved his mother's hand down, so that it rested on the bed._

_Kotone furrowed her eyebrows. "Why not? You're my son. I have a right to touch you, Hitomi… why are you telling me not to?"_

"_I might break…"_

"_What?"_

"_I might break if you touch me…" Hitomi muttered softly. This only caused the adults to grow more worried as they continued to stare at the little boy; wondering what could've caused his sudden odd behavior._

"_Hitomi," Raiden said. "Why would you break?" He asked. _Could it be that the nurse's warning was true?

"_Because…_ _I'm weak…"_

"_Explain. Does this have something to do with what happened earlier? Because if so, please, tell us what happened Hitomi. What happened at the pond?" Raiden asked his son; his stomach beginning to bubble with nervousness._

_It was a few seconds before Hitomi finally responded. "I couldn't do it…" Hitomi said; as if he were in a trance. _

"_Couldn't do what?" Ikoroku asked._

"_I couldn't do it… I was too weak… But not Hitoshi. He wasn't weak… he hurt them — but I… I was useless."_

"_Hitomi, please, you're confusing us." Kotone said. Her nerves beginning to become frazzled which each syllable that he spoke. "Explain it to us better, sweetie. We all want to know what happened — we're all very worried… What did Hitoshi do? What happened to him and Yayuki?" She asked. She noticed how Hitomi's grip tightened inside of her hand; it seemed as if he were trying to make a fist._

Why is he so angry?

"_They… they came from the pond…" Hitomi said softly. "And they grabbed her — they grabbed… they grabbed… Yayuki…" By now, his body was starting to shake. Everything was coming to his head in a flash — the scene, the emotions — and it was hard to control the wave of sadness that was beginning to go over him. _

_He, for the first time in a long time, wanted to cry._

_He wanted to go home, and lock himself in his room before beginning to cry on his bed. It hurt. It was hurting him so much — he had her. He had her in his hands. And if it weren't for him, his brother… they wouldn't have taken him…_

"_What happened next?" Kotone asked softly. She could feel small sparks of electricity against her skin as Hitomi's emotions began to get the best of him. She moved her free hand to begin to run over his hair. "Calm down…" She said softly as she continued to stroke his hair tenderly. "Hitomi, please calm down. All we want to know is—"_

"_I couldn't do it!" Hitomi shouted. The machines that were hooked-up to him burst — glass flying everywhere as the screens broke, and the metal slowly began to melt — while the lights above him flickered violently, before bursting. Sparks flew. Kotone was forced to let go of her child, and try to get as far away from him as she would allow herself to, as violent sparks of electricity began to surround him. The sparks come-out of random areas of his body, and continued to encircle his flesh._

"_Hitomi!" Kotone shouted as she looked at him. She silently gasped as she noticed the small tears beginning to leak down his eyes. "Hitomi…" She said softly._

"_Kotone, move!" Raiden shouted as he went to grab onto his wife. As he reached for her arm, Kotone eluded him and instead began to run towards their child. "Don't!" He shouted. "His power is unstable! He'll hurt you!"_

"_Hitomi!" Kotone shouted. She ran to him and, despite the violent waves of unstable energy coming out of him, she wrapped her arms around him and brought him closer._

"_Hitomi please…" She said softly through gritted teeth. "Calm down… t-tell me what happened — let me help you…" She begged. Despite the pain that she was feeling, Kotone made sure to remain there; hugging her child, and trying to coax him to stop._

Something happened… something that truly hurt him, happened… could it be — the nurse's report was true?

"_Hitomi…" Another pair of arms — stronger and more muscled than those of Kotone — encircled around Hitomi as his father joined the two. "Please top this, and tell us what happened… Why are you so distraught?"_

"_I… I c-couldn't do it…" Hitomi mumbled. _

"_What couldn't you do?" Kotone gently asked; she could feel the power around her get stronger and more violent. There was no doubt that there would be scars on her body._

"_Y-you… you hate me, d-don't you?" He asked._

"_No." Raiden immediately replied. "We could never hate you, Hitomi. You are our child, and no matter what you do, we will never hate you…" He said as he tightened his grip on his son, and began to absorb some of Hitomi's violent energy so that it wouldn't harm his wife._

"_N-not even… not even a-after what I d-id?" Hitomi asked._

"_Not even for whatever it was that put you in this state…" Kotone said reassuringly. "Now please Hitomi… we're very worried — please… tell us what happened…"_

_Hitomi gulped._

They won't hate me… I—I can tell them… right?

_He was still unsure on whether he should say to his parents what had happened, but having always been a logical person, he realized that the more time he used-up in not telling them, the farther his brother and best friend were getting…_

"_M-men came…" He said. "From the pond… four men came, and one of them hit me, grabbed her, and ran… I—I tried to get her back — and so did Hitoshi. He hurt them using his Element, but… but it wasn't enough. They recovered and one of them… one of them tried to grab me… But Hitoshi pushed me aside… and they took him instead…" By now, the violent sparks of energy were down to a minimum and barely shocked the couple as it touched their skin._

"_Hitomi…" Kotone said softly. It was in the middle of that silence that she heard it — a sniffle._

_Moving back the slightest, she lowered her head to try and look at his face, and looked at the droplets of water rolling down his cheeks. She held back her gasp; she couldn't remember the last time that she had seen him cry…_

"_They… they took them — both of them. And I—I chased after them…" His body was shaking and the tears were falling faster. Kotone could feel her eyes grow watery as she looked at her child, while Raiden hugged him tighter. "I had her… I had Yayuki… My hands were with hers, but… but…" Hitomi hiccupped. Kotone's tears began to fall._

"_He hit me. The man who had her hit me in my stomach… I let go…" The tears feel harder. "It's my fault… I—I was too w-weak… If I was stronger, I could've saved them. I could've taken the men down and saved them!" Instead of another violent episode, Hitomi's tears fell faster._

"_I'm sorry…! I'm so sorry for being so weak! It's my fault — it's my fault that they've been kidnapped!" _

_Kotone held onto her child — crying — while Raiden went to confirm the report that they were given to Ikoroku and Yamuhira; his own tears falling._

_When he told them, there were more tears._

* * *

><p>.<p>

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><p><span>Animetra Princess<span>

_**Part One: You Are the Princess**_

_**Chapter 1: Bunny Sánchez**_

***By Chibi Star Vamp***

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><p>.<p>

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><p>I walked down the cemented sidewalk to my school. The slight September wind blew some of my hair into my face. I pulled back a strand of my dark brown, nappy hair (at least, that's what I've been told it's like), as it landed on my face. I groaned as it blocked some of my vision. I pulled it behind my ear, next to my black headband, and then fixed my black glasses, so that they wouldn't fall off of my face anytime soon (I'm a bit of a clumsy person).<p>

The cool breeze blew some more of my hair into my face and once again I groaned.

I really wish I had tied it up, instead; because if I did, then I wouldn't have to worry about getting strands in my face and making it hard to see. But at the same time, if I had tied it up, everyone would see my neck! I'm not that comfortable with showing any part of my body... Just my hands, but that's basically it.

(And no — I don't like showing my face).

I fixed my hair so that the strand was placed behind my ear, I looked up ahead to see the school. I sighed as my eyes landed on the familiar beige color of the walls — it was chipping and showing some of the old dark red that had been its original color. It needed to be painted once again… but then again, it needed to be repainted last year; no one bothered to do it.

When I finally reached the steel school gates attached to the wall, my body automatically froze; my eyes going wide.

Walking down the sidewalk, on the other side, was Malissa Johanson. She was the most popular girl in the entire eighth grade — all of the school! She had curly dark red hair that she seemed to have straightened for the new school year, and bouncy bangs that covered her forehead. A light group of freckles surrounded the bridge of her nose (they added to her beauty), and she had dark green eyes that looked amazing with her peachy complexion.

I could see that her eyelashes were very dark and were shaped like the models in the magazine had them; probably from mascara. She was also wearing lip-gloss. It was probably strawberry-flavored — her favorite.

She wore the school uniform, but with a few added accessories. She had on a navy blue skirt that stopped a little above her knees, and was wearing a pair of white tights underneath — I could tell that they were tights because they covered all of her legs until a few inches above her ankles. She also wore the necessary light-blue colored shirt, but in the form of a short-sleeved polyester blouse. Her shoes were black-colored flats — they were against school code.

(But it wasn't like she would get in trouble for wearing them.

Malissa never got in trouble for anything. The school let her do as she wished, and the ones who were brave enough to report her were who got in trouble. That's why no one messed with her — especially not me).

Finally, Malissa wore brightly-colored bracelets on her wrists, and a gold necklace around her neck. Behind her were her four best friends; who were dressed similar to her.

They were all laughing about something, but stopped when they spotted me. Malissa's piercing green eyes narrowed at me and my breath caught in my throat; I clutched onto the straps of my purple backpack more tightly as one of her friends whispered something in her ear, and she smirked.

I gulped as she continued to stare at me as she walked forward.

Oh no.

What is she going to do? What is going to happen to me this time?

I closed my eyes as I braced myself for the oncoming torment. I could feel my fight-or-flight response trying to kick-in, but there was no way that I would ever dream of fighting her or anyone else, and I was far-too-frightened to move my legs and run away.

_Besides… they'd catch me… just like they always do…_

Moments passed, and the pain that I expected never came. When I found this to be suspicious, I slowly opened one of my eyes to see in front of me. I was surprised to see that Malissa and her friends were… gone… Instead, I was staring at a group of younger kids.

I flushed and let-out a nervous laugh as they looked at me strangely; probably wondering why I had looked so frightened and scared, earlier. They're probably fifth graders… newcomers to the school who have yet to learn of Malissa…

_But they will. Before the end of the day, they'll know _exactly _who she is._

They gave me a weird look before walking into the gates. I let out a sigh a few seconds later; my body shaking from my fear. At least Malissa didn't do anything to harm me… This time…

I took in a deep breath to calm my pounding heart before starting to head inside of the school. Looking up at the large clock placed on the building, I saw that it was almost eight, and the back-to-school assembly would start soon.

I entered the school building and smiled at the security guard there; the blue-uniformed woman giving me a smile back. My school wasn't a bad school, not in the least, but the principal still finds it necessary to have security guards around in order for protection. You never know…

I went down the four steps that were there and then turned right and walked to the far right door that was the auditorium. There was a door closer to me, too, but I feel like everyone would look at me if I used that one; plus it's not the door that the eighth graders use. I entered as silently as I could and easily found a spot — the last seat, in the last row. I quickly made my way past all the people that were already seated and excused myself as I did. When I finally hovered over my seat, I took my backpack off before sitting on the chair; my backpack now on my lap.

I didn't bother to converse with the students around me, or to search for any of my friends.

It would be useless to do so.

I don't socialize with anyone at the school unless it's for a class project… and I don't have any friends to talk to… I don't have any friends, period.

So instead I placed my chin on my backpack and closed my eyes as I tried to block-out the sounds around me.

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.

.

It proved to be more successful than I thought it would be.

I knew this because when I finally opened my eyes, it was because a person was touching me. I flinched when I felt the pressure around my arm; accompanied with the feel of fingers indenting themselves into my skin. I silently gasped as I opened my eyes and turned to look at the person — immediately thinking that it was Malissa.

But I was surprised to see that it wasn't.

Instead, it was a girl with straight black hair and brown eyes. There was a frown on her face as she looked at me.

"He called your name." She said.

"H-huh?" I responded; still shaken from my earlier panic.

She seemed to have gotten irritated with me because she rolled her eyes before looking at me again. "He called your name; you're in Mrs. Brooksteen's class." She said.

At that moment, it clicked in my head that the principal had begun to tell us which classes we would be in for the school year. "O-oh!" I exclaimed as I finally made the realization. "Uh… T-th-hanks… thank you for telling me and… and… sorry." I mumbled as I stood up, with my backpack in my hand, and made my way through the row again.

As I went over to the line, I placed my backpack back on (I almost tripped over a slightly elevated floorboard). When I finally reached the line, I kept my head down and stared at my black shoes.

But even though I wasn't looking at anyone, that didn't mean that I couldn't feel someone look at _me_.

It surprised me, at first. Almost as much as realizing that the girl actually knew my name… But as my body honed in on the feeling, I slowly started to shake. That glare… I… I know that feeling all-too-well… And that's why I didn't dare to look-up and search for the person who was glaring at me.

There was no reason to.

I already know who it is…

So I remained with my head down. I made sure to block-out all other conversations, so that people wouldn't accuse me of eavesdropping on them like they've done before.

After all, it was a new school year.

The last thing I wanted was for it to be the same as last year, and the years before that…

I only focused on the teacher's voice as she finally spoke.

"Alright class, hush up. Follow me." Mrs. Brooksteen said. Then the line began to move as she started to lead us out of the auditorium.

I made sure to keep my head down and my eyes focused on my feet. I also made sure I didn't bump into anyone.

I vaguely remember going up the three flights of stairs it took to get to my school. You see, the building my school was in, was shared with two other schools. The first floor was shared by all schools and held things like the cafeteria and auditorium on it. The second floor was the first school, and the third floor held the second school; mine being on the fourth floor.

I came out of my haze when we reached the classroom. I could hear the jingle of keys as Mrs. Brooksteen opened the door. But we didn't enter. Looking up, I noticed that she was blocking the doorway.

"I want the girls against the closet, boys against the window — and no talking." She sternly said before she moved and allowed us to enter the classroom.

After we went inside and were lined-up, Mrs. Brooksteen closed the door before heading to her desk, which was on the far side of the room near the windows. When she got there, she grabbed the white binder that was on her desk and opened it up. She flipped through a few pages before coming to a stop, and taking a pen out of the pocket of her long-sleeved blue blouse. She uncapped it with her mouth.

The room stayed silent as Mrs. Brooksteen began to make marks on the paper. Every now and then, she would look-up. I don't think anyone understood what she was doing until she called out my name.

"Bunny Sánchez?" She asked.

"H-here!" I exclaimed as I raised my hand. She nodded her head before marking the paper once again. She was taking attendance… And it didn't surprise me at all that she had to double-check that I was present.

I'm a very quiet student. At times, I wonder if my presence is ever known. But I prefer that it isn't... I don't like when it is…

Around another minute or so passed until she finished. She then closed the binder and capped the pen. "Take your seats. For today, you may sit where you want. But tomorrow, I will be changing seats. This process will continue all week until I deem your arrangement to be your permanent seats." I could hear a few groans among the females.

I knew that many of them were concerned on whether they would get to sit next to their friends, or not. Everyone knew that Mrs. Brooksteen's seating arrangements were permanent for the rest of the year. Not once did she ever change them. Why? Because she always made sure to separate the students from their friends; there was even one year where each desk was separated…

"Sit." She said.

I wasted no time in moving to the back of the class. I made sure to avoid coming in contact with the other students who were headed for the group seats, as I made my way to the five isolated seats in the back of the class.

Normally, these seats were used to separate the troublemakers from the rest of the students. But I wasn't a troublemaker. In my case, it was just because I couldn't be around the other students. They didn't want me to be near them, and I didn't want to be near them… This way, it's a win-win situation.

I took my seat at the wooden desk and sat down. Of the five, I sat in the middle because it had the best view of the board. I took-off my backpack as I sat there, and placed it at my side. I didn't try to fill the desk with any of my stuff. I didn't know whether she would decide to change my seat or not — although I would greatly appreciate it if she didn't.

I don't know how I'd be able to cope being seated in a group; where I would have to interact with others in group projects.

I work much better alone.

I looked-up at Mrs. Brooksteen as she stood behind her desk.

She had on a long black skirt that went past her knees, and wore shiny black, short-heeled shoes that contained a strap that went over her feet. I could tell that she was wearing pantyhose — the skin on her legs was darker than that of the rest of her body. She was also wearing a long-sleeved, blue female dress shirt, and there was a simple gold chain around her neck; a circular pendant with something engraved on it, hung from the chain. The shirt was tucked under her skirt.

She had light-colored skin and brown eyes. Her brown hair was pulled back in a bun — no sign of gray — and I could see the small white-pearl earrings in her ears. There was almost no make-up on her face. Most likely just some powder along with mascara, and the red lipstick that she had on.

Mrs. Brooksteen didn't seem to be very old. She looked to be in her later thirties, perhaps…

She moved her head as she looked at where all of us were seated. I felt uncomfortable when her gaze landed on me; then her eyes moved and I couldn't help but follow it: they landed on an empty spot in one of the groups.

She probably found it odd that I was seated alone…

"Alright class," she said as she stood-up straight and began to walk over to an area of the long rectangle-shaped chalkboard that held two black erasers. She picked-up the box of chalk that was there, and opened it before pulling-out a brand new white piece of chalk. "Take out your notebooks and let's begin the review."

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><p><em>It happened during a class interval…<em>

Mrs. Brooksteen finished her review, and now it was time for the second class of the day. The schedule that had been written on the far right side of the chalkboard (that was a smaller board attached to the larger one), said that next for us was Science class.

But before she left, I watched as Mrs. Brooksteen went to the closet in the back of the room. It was next to the final single desk to my right. She opened the silver lock with one of the keys on her keychain, and pulled the door open. Then she began to take out bright orange books and place them on the desk closest to her; the word _Science _was printed on the cover in white, along with a small collage of science-related pictures.

_Slam!_

I flinched when she accidentally dropped one of the books. I couldn't help myself as I automatically stood from my seat, and grabbed it for her.

"H-here you go Mrs. Brooksteen." I said as I held the book out for her.

"Thank you." She said. "You can put that on the desk. And do you mind helping me pass them out?" She asked. I shook my head as I placed the book on the desk.

"N-no… I… I d-don't mind…" I said softly. Despite not wanting to come in contact with the other students, I have never been able to say _no _to an adult when they asked me to help them; not even when, in the back of my mind, I knew that there were other things that I had to attend to. I couldn't help it. It was an impulse; the way I was raised.

"Thank you. You can start passing them out." I nodded my head and grabbed five books off the top of the pile. The groups were of five. And currently, almost all of them were filled.

Taking in a deep breath, I began to pass the books out. I made sure to hold them tightly and be careful where I stepped; there were backpacks all over the floor and with my low sense of coordination, I was bound to trip over one of the straps and hurt myself, or someone else.

(I hoped that if this happened, I would only end-up hurting myself. That way, no one had any reason to target me…).

I passed out the books to the first group. They didn't even seem to notice my presence as they continued with their conversation. I made sure not to listen to it as I solely focused on the task at hand. Once I had that table supplied with books, I went on to the next.

In around three minutes, I had the other tables supplied as well. There was only one remaining…

"How many are left?" Mrs. Brooksteen asked me.

"T-th-three…" I stuttered.

"What about yourself?" She asked. My eyes widened and my face flushed. I… I had forgotten about myself…

"I-in that case… four…" I said to her.

She said nothing as she got-out four books and handed them to me; then she began to close the closet door. I kept my head down as I moved to where I was seated, and placed a book on the desk. Then I bit my lip as I looked-up and spotted the remaining table that needed Science books.

I could feel my pulse begin to quicken.

Seated at the table were three of the people in Malissa Johanson's group.

The first person was a girl who was sitting with her face vertical to my current position. She had blonde hair that was wavy and went down to her waist. It was really pretty. It glowed and shined and definitely showed that she cared for it greatly. Her bangs were pulled back in the form of a bump. Since they didn't cover her face, her blue eyes were completely visible. They were framed by her black eyelashes that surely were darkened and sharpened by mascara.

Her lips were painted light pink, and I could see a glimpse of her silver hoop earrings shining from the side of her face. All I could see of her uniform was the same light-blue blouse that Malissa wore; along with a few shiny bracelets on her left wrist, and that her nails were painted pink.

She was a pretty girl, no doubt; a beautiful blonde-haired girl with a pretty smile and tons of friends. Her name was Tracy. Tracy Davis. She was Malissa's second-in-command…

Sitting next to her was a male member of Malissa's group, and Tracy's rumored boyfriend, Gerald Mackenzie. He, like Tracy, also had blonde hair. It was cut in a style that was very common among the boys in the school; his hair covered his ears, and the back was shorter than the front, along with bangs covering his forehead. He had green eyes and currently had a large grin on his face as he showed his white teeth.

He was wearing a long-sleeved light blue male dress shirt, and there was a bracelet on his wrist along with a necklace around his neck.

He was a very loud person. But as far I knew he was also friendly; although, I've never experienced his kindness…

The final person seated there was turned away from me. I couldn't see much of his face. All I could see was his cut brown hair; the bottom being shorter than the top. But I knew what he looked like. I knew that the front of his face held chocolate-colored eyes, and that he had dimpled cheeks. A smile that made girl's hearts flutter, and the whitest teeth among all of the males of the school… and that he held a kind heart…

I could almost feel my legs shake as I stood there… watching the back of his head. My heart began to pound harshly, and for a moment, it seemed as if it was all that I heard in my ears — along with the rushing of my blood.

_Move… I—I need to move…_

I felt as if my throat was starting to clog. My glasses were getting a little foggy, as well, and my muscles seemed to be getting weaker. But… but despite my apparent paralysis, I had to move… I had to get these books to them, and head back to my seat before anyone noticed my hesitation.

They would all be able to easily determine why I was suddenly frozen… and staring…

_And they would make fun of me… and tell Malissa…_

_I had to move._

I willed my leg muscles to start working. I focused all of my attention on getting my limbs to start moving. If I didn't, then I would get into trouble. I don't want to get into trouble… not on the first day of school… not ever…

So I pushed forward and took the first step. My legs felt so heavy; it was as if they were chained with weights tied to them. But I kept moving. I had to. I pushed past the heavy feeling of my legs and kept getting closer and closer — with each step I took, my heart sped-up in its pace.

My vision was getting blurry. Once again, all I could hear was the rushing of blood pounding in my ears. It… it was so loud. I couldn't focus on anything else. I felt my muscles grow weaker, and my head felt… felt… cloudy.

W-why… why was this happening, again?

I could feel my brain pulsing. Harshly. My senses were diminishing and I had no clue where I was headed. I… I couldn't see. I couldn't even see where I was going. Instead, all I saw was darkness, and colors as my brain pulsed.

_B-bump… b-bump… b-bump…_

_My head… it hurt so much… W-what was going on? Why was this happening… again?_

And suddenly, I felt as if I was falling. My mind went into swirls and my body felt as if it were being pulled deeper and deeper into darkness. My stomach plunged. My breath caught in my throat.

My heart began to pump more rapidly as I felt myself fall deeper and deeper into the darkness. As strange as it may sound, I felt wind against my face and then my body coming in contact with something hard. My head began to hurt immensely, after I felt the contact. I opened my mouth to say something, but I didn't hear any words come-out.

The pulsing never stopped.

Instead it grew more and more vicious. Slowly, all the colors that I could see began to fade — except one: red. As my mind pulsed, I could see the red blotch that showed-up every now and then, grow larger and larger. It became more frequent, and even began to cover some of the other colors. And then, all I saw was red. It became the only color that showed-up when my mind pulsed; it quickly consumed the black for a few seconds before fading as it matched the beat.

_My head… why did it hurt so much?_

Then there was movement.

I felt something pull on my body. As I moved, I felt all of my senses come crashing down on me, and it left me feeling disorientated — and only caused my confusion to grow.

What is going on?

Why… why am I feeling this way?

"You stupid, pathetic klutz! Look what you did to me!" It was the first sound I actually managed to hear. And it wasn't until after I heard it, that I finally managed to open my eyes.

I gasped.

My eyes widened.

W-why am I looking at Tracy's face?

And… why does she seem — no. Why _is_ she angry?

"W-wh-wha—"

"You idiot! Why can't you walk straight?! What good are those glasses if you're still as blind as a bat?!" She shouted at me; her eyes narrowed in a fierce glare and her lips twisted into a frown. Her face was also the slightest bit pinker than usual… Why is she so angry at me? What did I do?

"I—I… I'm sorry!" I exclaimed. Despite not knowing what it is that I had done to cause her to be so upset with me, I automatically apologized. I didn't need a reason. Clearly I had done something to make her so upset… I always do…

"Sorry? _Sorry_ isn't gonna make my nose any better!" My eyes focused on her nose — they widened. Her nose... it was bleeding.

"B-blood…" I said.

"What?!" She shouted. She then brought a hand up to her nose and moved it back to look at it. Her eyes went wide, and then they narrowed as she looked at me. She let out an angry groan. "You idiot!"

"I'm sorry!"

The next thing I knew, she had pushed me back. I could hear the familiar screeching of a desk as I fell into it. I then tripped-over my feet and my head slammed into the desk; before I landed on my butt on the floor. I groaned as I reached-up to touch the area where my head hit. But despite the pulsing that was overcoming my senses, once again, I could still hear Tracy's voice as she shouted.

"You little bitch! Look what you did to me! I'm bleeding because of you! You stupid little fu—"

"That is enough!"

My hands were over my ears and my teeth were grit as I tried to stop the tears from falling, when Mrs. Brooksteen intervened. I timidly opened one of my eyes to look-up at her as she stood next to Tracy.

"To the Principal's Office!" She exclaimed.

"But my nose!" Tracy shouted; plugging her nose with her fingers as she tried to keep the blood from falling on her.

(She shouldn't be doing that. Her head should be tilted back instead, and there should be an ice-pack over it…

I wanted to tell her that. I wanted to tell her what to do for her nose, but even if I could, I knew that she wouldn't listen to me. She never did… And yes. I've tried to give her advice, before).

Mrs. Brooksteen turned to the class. "One of you take her to the Nurse's Office, and _then_ the Principal's Office."

"I'll do it!" I looked at Gerald as he raised his hand to volunteer.

"Fine." Mrs. Brooksteen said. "I'll be there in a few minutes." As Gerald and Tracy left the classroom, Tracy looked in my direction; a glare on her face. She mouthed words, but didn't say anything.

But she didn't need to.

I know what she said: _I'm telling Malissa_.

* * *

><p>.<p>

.

.

* * *

><p>Lunch<p>

* * *

><p>.<p>

.

.

* * *

><p>I moved my tray against the steel table as the lunch ladies added the food for the day. I gave each of them a timid smile, and replied with a soft <em>"Thank you"<em> as they placed the menu items on my tray. While normally, I would bring my own lunch to school, today I had accidentally forgotten to, due to the fact that the first day of school always caused me to forget about small details as I focused on much larger, scarier ones.

But I really wish I hadn't forgotten.

When I had all of the food, and my milk and silverware, I exited the room that contained the food, and entered the part of the cafeteria where the students sat down to eat.

It was not very full. The school gave the option of eating outside or inside, and most of the students chose the latter.

(Normally, I would not be in the cafeteria either, but there were still a few, minor details that I needed to learn about, before I returned to the routine I used last school year).

I held my tray tightly in my hands — my fingernails dug into the hard material — as I started to head over to the last table where there were no people. No one ever used that table because they all had their own filled with all their friends; it was the farthest from all of the students, and therefore suits me more because I don't want to be near them…

They frightened me.

As I walked, I couldn't help myself as my eyes roamed over the populated, ten-person circular lunch tables. The students that sat in them, with their friends, looked very happy. They were all smiling and chatting away (most likely exchanging stories of the summer, or reminiscing in the moments they spent together), as they mostly ignored their lunch food and sipped on their milk.

The various scenes of friendship and fun made me bite my lower-lip.

_I… I want that…_

When I was halfway to my (the) table, I felt my legs grow weak as my eyes landed on a specific table. I could feel my heart sink to my stomach, as well as something bubble in it, as my gaze landed on Malissa and her friends.

Out of everyone in the cafeteria, they looked the most happy. There were smiles, grins, or smirks on their faces as the members of their group exchanged words among one another. Every now and then, there would be laughter from their table as someone made a joke, or perhaps said something that was considered humorous.

I looked away from the table.

It hurt to look at them…

_I long to be like them… to have friends and share those same types of conversations…_

Finally, when I reached the single, vacant table, I placed my tray down on it. But then I gasped as something tugged on the back collar of my shirt, and moved me back. I stumbled on my feet as I was forcefully pulled away from the single piece of furniture, and tried desperately to make sure that I did not fall.

"I—I'm sorry!" I exclaimed. I did not know who was holding onto the back of my sweater, but I did not care. All I knew was that I had to apologize for whatever it was that I did…

There was a scoff. "Apologies won't help you _this time_." I gasped; my eyes wide. I—I recognize that voice…

O-oh n-n-o…

"P-please…" I said; my body beginning to shake slightly with fear. "I—I apologize… I did not m-mean to do it… P-please… F-forgive me…"

"No~ way!" The second voice, a little higher than the first voice, said. Listening to it more closely, I found that it sounded a touch more nasal than normal. "You're not getting out of it that easily freak-a-saurous. You've got _a lot _to pay for."

"I—I'll d-d-do your h-home-work…" I offered.

The first voice scoffed. "Homework won't heal her broken nose." My eyes grew wider, and I turned around to look at the owner of the second voice. But I was quickly turned around, so that I faced the table, before I had a chance to see if what I had just learned was true…

_I-it couldn't be… right?_

"T-then w-wh-what do you w-want?" I asked. If they didn't want me to do their homework, there had to be something else that I could do in order to escape this humiliating moment. I could feel the other students in the cafeteria begin to stare…

I felt so uncomfortable being the source of their gazes.

"Hm… Let me think…" The voice said. But I knew that they already had a clear idea of what they wanted — this was just a plot to try and make me build-up false hope. But I knew better than to believe that in situations like these — all situations — something good would happen to me. "Oh! I know: money for the surgery to fix her nose." The first female said to me as if it were obvious. I went into a price-shock.

"I—I don't have that k-kind of money…" I said softly; my eyes wide with shock at the request. "I-it's a type of p-pl-plastic surgery and t-that's very expensive… it would be _years _before I f-fin-finally gained w-what was needed… And t-that's a-after a college e-edu-education…"

"Oh, well in that case, I guess it'll have to be something else…" She said to me. I almost tripped over my feet when she spun me around, and then pushed me back. I held in my groan of pain when I hit my back against the table; this was the second time today that I got hurt… I really hope that I don't get another possible bruise.

"Look up." Fighting through the pain, I did as she asked; even though I wanted nothing more than to curl into a ball and hide. But I knew better than that — she would hurt me even more if I did so. And so I raised my head and looked Malissa in the eyes.

She smirked.

"That's a good girl. Now, to repay your debt, since you can't pay with cash, you'll pay with… your servitude." She stated.

"E-excuse m-me-e?" I asked.

"That's right, from now on, you're my slave. You'll do everything and anything that _I_ ask you to do — no questions asked — and you'll stay that way until_ I've_ forgiven you for breaking Tracy's nose." She said to me. I felt as if my heart had plunged into my stomach; I could feel my body beginning to shake…

Her servant… She w-wanted me to become her servant…

I—I don't even want to _imagine _the horrible tasks that she'll assign to me…

"B-b-b-bu—"

"What's this? Are you going _against my wishes_?" She questioned. I could easily pick-out the venom and anger in her voice. Malissa was never one to cope nicely with not getting what she wanted. She always did, and that's why when those rare moments of resistance came-up…

"Gah!" My body was forcefully pulled upward. I could feel pain in my head, and my hands went-up to grab onto hers, as she pulled on my hair.

"Listen here, Sánchez." She said bitterly as she continued to pull on my hair. "From here on out, _you obey me_. _I _am your master, and _you _are my faithful servant. I don't care whether you want to or not, you're going to do it and _that's final_!" She pushed me back and this time I landed on the chair. My hands went-up to stroke my head.

It hurt so badly…

"Now, as your first task as my servant…" I looked-up at her; trying desperately to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall. "Take your tray, and dump it on your head."

I gasped.

"W-w-w-what?" I asked her. Immediately she narrowed her eyes at me; I easily felt the fear that struck my heart at that moment.

"Do it, slave." She said as she crossed her arms.

I wanted to resist. I wanted to shake my head and tell her that I wouldn't do it — slavery already ended a long, long time ago and it's illegal. She shouldn't be doing this; it's wrong. I—I'm a human being… I shouldn't be treated this way.

But while I feel this way, I know that I would never be able to tell her this. Malissa… she frightened me so much. She had the power to strip me of everything and leave me feeling… _alien_.

And this feeling only grew as she glared more harshly at me.

"_Do_._ It_." She ordered. I could feel my hands begin to shake as I gulped, and nodded my head — a satisfied smirk placing itself on her face.

With fear in my heart, I turned my upper body around, slowly. I flinched when she told me to hurry-up; that a teacher was coming. I wanted to stall. I wanted to move more slowly so that the teacher would arrive before I was forced to dump the food on my head. I desperately wanted to do this, but I didn't — couldn't.

It seemed as if she knew what I wanted to do, because she grabbed the tray, instead. She hissed to me, "You little bitch. You're not getting out of this that easily."

_My heart was thundering in my chest._

"Hey everyone!" I flinched when she grabbed my arm and pulled me up. Then she pushed my past her and her friends, and in front of the view of everyone in the cafeteria; who had turned their heads at the sound of her voice. "Watch this! Bunny can balance a tray of food on her head!" It confused me as to why she had said that.

I raised my head to watch the tray as she placed it on my head. Was this it? Was this all that she was going to do?

I was relived — that is, until she flipped the tray over and made all of the food land on my face. I gasped and moved my head down as I began to try and get the food off. I feel so disgusting. There was applesauce in my nose and mouth, and my milk had hit my forehead — _hard_. I could feel that something was stuck to my glasses, and when I grabbed it and pulled it back, I managed to see that it was a pizza.

"Oops." I turned my head to look at Malissa. "I guess I used the wrong end. Sorry, Pizza Face."

The kids in the cafeteria began to laugh at me. Despite the teachers trying to calm them down, they continued to laugh at me — at my humiliation. I stared at them, eyes wide with shock, and their laughter ringing in my ears.

"Pizza Face! Pizza Face! Pizza Face!" The taunts made my heart hurt, and it wasn't long before I was beginning to cry.

"Aw! Is Pizza Face crying?" The taunting came from behind me, but I did not bother to turn around and see who it was. Instead I dropped the piece of pizza that I had in my hands, on the ground, turned around, and began to run.

But sadly, I slipped on the applesauce that had fallen on the floor, and fell face first.

The laughter only grew.

Slowly, and with my knees shaking, I carefully stood from the floor. When I was up, I began to quickly walk out of the cafeteria.

I… I didn't want to stay here anymore… I'm going home…

I just… I just can't stay here for the rest of the day. I was humiliated enough as it was; and there were still around three hours of school left. I couldn't do that — I can't survive those final hours of school…

And so I made my way up to the fourth floor, and went inside of my classroom. Mrs. Brooksteen was inside, and looked at me as I entered. But I didn't look at her; instead I tried to hide my face from her. She didn't ask me why I was covered in food, or why I was grabbing my backpack and packing — no. She remained seated, behind her desk, and silently watched.

I was glad she didn't ask — I don't think I could've answered.

* * *

><p>Home<p>

* * *

><p>When I finally arrived home, I opened the door and then closed it, and locked it behind me. Knowing that my shoes were dirtier than normal, I took them off before stepping off the rug that was placed there. I placed my backpack on one of the hooks that were attached to the wall to my left, and then put my keys inside the smallest pocket of my backpack.<p>

Then, with my shoes in hand, I walked in a straight path and headed towards the stairs.

Tears were sliding down my eyes as I did so. They hadn't stopped since when the first started back at the school. But why would they? I have just been ultimately humiliated in front of nearly everyone in the whole entire school — not to mention that I've been made the slave of Malissa…

Today is, and will always be, the worst day of my life…

On my way up the stairs, I tripped. I gasped in my pain as I hit my knee harshly against the step that I had slipped on. I groaned as the pain sunk in, and I bit my lip to keep myself from crying once again. I've already cried so much today… I don't want to cry again…

Wiping my eyes, I grabbed onto my glasses (which had fallen off when I fell) with the hand containing my shoes, and fisted them in my hand before slowly beginning to crawl up the rest of the stairs. When I reached the top, I supported myself on the wall as I started to stand. I met some resistance with my knee, but I knew that it wasn't broken. It was just sore.

I walked down the hall a little before turning to the right. I grabbed onto the doorknob there and twisted it before pushing it back. I entered my room, and headed for my bed.

I was so exhausted.

I dropped my shoes on the side of my bed, and collapsed onto it. Almost immediately I curled into a ball with my pillow, and clutched it tightly as I fell asleep.

The tears never stopped.

* * *

><p>I turned in my bed; my head now on a cooler spot on the pillow, and soon my eyes began to flutter open. The world of my bedroom came into light as the darkness left me. I stared at the white drapes hanging from atop my windows. The bright sunlight made them seem almost transparent and I groaned as a beam of light hit me. I placed my hands on my bed and flinched.<p>

I lifted my hands and un-curled my fingers; my eyes landed on my shattered glasses. The glass was off of them and one shard was deeply embedded into my palm. The rims were cracked, rendering them useless.

"No." I said out-loud.

I placed the broken glasses on my bed and then took two of my fingers and placed them at either side of the glass. I then pressed my fingers against it and began to pull. I bit my bottom lip. It was in pretty deep and hurt to take it out. But I bit back the pain and pulled. Once it was out, I looked at it. My blood stained the glass and there was a deep gash in my palm. Blood was leaking out and I looked away.

I'm not very good with blood.

Slowly, I began to get off of my bed. I had my bloodied hand up and used my other to maneuver my way off of my bed. I have Myopia and while I may be able to see a few things clearly — the very close things — everything else, that's really far away is a big blur to me. The glasses were specially prescribed for me and cost a good chunk. My mom is going to be so upset with me when she hears that I broke them.

As I placed the shard to the side, I picked-up a revolting smell. My nose crinkled as my senses focused on it more and more — it was so disgusting. Moving my head around, I found that it was coming from my pillow. I picked it up and smelt it.

It was a disgusting smell; mixed with several things. But I could easily pick-up the small, familiar scents to determine what the overall one was.

Food.

And then I remembered — I had a tray of food dumped on me today at school…

Sighing, I looked ahead towards my bedroom door. It seemed a bit blurry because it was far away, but I'll be able to make it. I placed the pillow down (making a note to wash it, along with my bed sheet and clothes, later) before carefully stepping onto the floor, and then going to my door. I carefully made my way there and grabbed my towel that hung from a hook attached to the door — making sure to use my non-bloody hand.

I reached for the doorknob and then twisted it. The door opened and I stepped through. The hallway was dim, the light switch was too far for me to reach, plus I knew these hallways well enough that I could probably make it to the bathroom without the need for lights. I was careful with my footing, though; the towel in my clean hand. I took small, baby steps. It was so difficult to see. Everything was dark and since the bathroom door was far, it blended in with the slight darkness.

"Ow." I said.

I moved to the side so that I wouldn't bump into the coffee table again. Gladly for me, there was no vase there so I didn't have to try and catch it. I placed my hand on the wall again and then finally reached the bathroom door. I opened it with the hand that held my towel, and then I went inside and turned the lights on and closed the door, locking it.

Finally, I could see everything.

Our bathroom was small… but decent. Everything was clean and there was a toilet, bath tub with shower head and a sink with a mirror that held the medicine cabinet above it, and cupboards at the bottom. I placed my towel on the towel rack then went over to the sink.

I looked at myself in the mirror: my pale, white skin made my hair stand out; showing all of the pieces of food and such that were in it, more clearly. Squinting, I noticed that my eyes looked… weird without my glasses. It's one of the reasons why I never got contacts. They looked so strange without the lenses covering them. And finally, my school uniform was covered in food, as well.

There was even a pepperoni on my forehead. Reaching up with my clean hand, I quickly grabbed it and threw it in the trashcan… I wonder how many people saw me with it.

Sighing, I moved back a little and bent my knees. Using my good hand, I opened the cupboard and quickly searched and grabbed the first-aid kit that we kept there. I clutched onto the white, plastic handle and pulled it back. I then closed the cupboard with the back of my hand and place the white plastic case with the red-colored cross on the side of the sink.

I wasted no time in opening it and quickly tending to my wound. Since I was used to cutting myself, it was a very quick process. I disinfected my wound (biting my lower lip at the sting), wrapped it in the waterproof gauze, and then cut the gauze and clipped it shut. I made sure to move my hand and fingers around to see if my mobility was good, and was glad to see that the wrapped-wound did not affect the movements of my hand.

With a soft smile, I placed all the items back in the first-aid kit, closed it shut, and then returned it to its proper place.

(This took less than five minutes to do).

Now that my wound was healed, I stood and began to take-off my clothes.

I unbuttoned the buttons on my short-sleeved light blue cotton school shirt, and then pulled it over my head. I placed it to the side, and then pulled-off the white tank that I had under it. Once that one was on top of my blue shirt, I pulled down the zipper at the side of my navy school skirt, and then slipped out of it. I let it join the pile before going to sit on the covered toilet.

When I was seated, I pulled-off my knee-length socks, and then my black shoes. Finally I took-off my sports bra (I was very uncomfortable with the other bras) and stood to take-off my panties. I then grabbed all of the items of clothing that I took-off and put them in the hamper — I'll wash them today, as well.

With my body void of any clothing, I turned on the water on the tub, flipped a switch that kept the water from draining, and then went to the medicine cabinet; placed behind the mirror. I opened it and got what I need to bathe and wash my hair.

* * *

><p>When I finished my bath and arrived back at my room, I felt very clean. Bathing and washing my hair — removing all unwanted entities on my body — it really made me feel better.<p>

I felt clean — and it was a wonderful feeling.

Entering my room, I flipped the switch and turned the lights on. I then quickly headed over to my dresser, while at the same time I dried any and all excess water on my body. Reaching my dresser, I opened the second drawer that it had (it held five drawers).

It held my pajamas — or variations of what I considered pajamas to be — and it didn't take long to figure-out which ones I wanted to wear. I grabbed a white tank, a little thicker than the one I had worn to school, and a pair of gray shorts. After closing that drawer, I then opened the top one — which held my underwear — and grabbed onto a fresh pair of panties and another sports bra.

Placing my towel on the bed, I quickly began to put-on my clothing. It was a quick process — around two minutes — and once I was done, I slipped on my slippers and then began to collect all of the dirty laundry.

I stripped my bed of the comforter, and took-off the pillowcase of the pillow I had used, before heading down the hall to the laundry room. Entering, I quickly made my way over the washer and opened it — thank goodness it was a top loader. I placed the comforter and pillow case inside (but left the top open), and then added the necessary detergent.

Then I set the required time and turned the washing machine on and before leaving the room while the water began to fill it. I was glad that the bathroom was next door to the laundry room; it made the trip there easy and fast.

I entered the bathroom, grabbed the hamper, and then headed back to the laundry room. When I reached the washer, I dumped the clothes inside, and then put the top down. The noise that the washer was making changed — it was starting to wash the fabrics.

Sighing, I placed the hamper back inside of the bathroom, and then headed downstairs.

With the materials washing, I had plenty of time before I had to transfer them over to the drying. Plus, I hadn't eaten lunch today, and I was hungry, so I headed over to the one place where I could satisfy my hunger — the kitchen.

Entering, I turned on the lights before looking around at the various basic kitchen items that were around. Hm… what could I make… what could I make? It'd have to be something simple. Without my glasses, I won't be able to see clearly enough to prepare something extravagant so… cereal and milk will have to do.

With this in mind went over to the fridge. I got my favorite cereal, _Luck of the Charms_. The red box was then placed on the counter nearby and then I lowered my view and opened the fridge door. I got out the milk and then closed the door. I placed it on the counter and grabbed a bowl and spoon from the rack that my mom bought to place the wet dishes so that they would dry.

I opened the milk bottle and then poured it into the bowl. I filled it half-way and then closed it. Then I opened the flaps to the _Luck of the Charms_ box and jiggled it a bit so that the cereal would fall in. Once it was to my liking, I closed the flaps and then put the box back at the top of the fridge. I then opened the fridge door and placed the milk back inside. I looked back at my bowl full of cereal and milk and then added the spoon.

There — perfection.

I grabbed the bowl in between my hands tightly and started walking to the couch in the living room. My steps were at a slow and steady pace. I was a pretty clumsy person, and with my bad eye-sight, I might just be much clumsier than usual. I made my way over and then slowly sat down on the couch. I sighed out as I reached for the remote and turned the TV on. Our living room was simple: a couch and a recliner along with a standard TV and a coffee table. Pictures of the family were scattered all over, including one of my dad. I flipped through the channels until I found one that I liked.

I started to eat my cereal as the theme song ended. I took in a few marshmallows — they were the best part — and then sucked in a few spoon-full of milk.

It was in the middle of the episode, that I heard the soft _click_ of the door, and then turned my head to look back. The door was opening and I immediately knew that it was my mom. I placed my cereal down on the coffee table in front of me, and carefully went over to the front door to greet her.

The door opened and I spotted her; in all of her glorious beauty. The first thing I noticed was her somewhat tanned skin. It wasn't very tanned, or very pasty. It was your regular Puerto Rican tan, given how my mother — and thus I — is Puerto Rican, herself. My mother also had brown and blonde hair.

Her hair is originally brown, around the same shade of brown as mine, but after a while, she dyed the top layer blonde — along with her eyebrows — and left the bottom layer brown. While normally this would look ridiculous on a person, she made it look so beautiful and perfect. Currently, her hair was tied-up in a bun and this allowed one to see the separate brown and blonde layers, easily; the top of her head being blonde, and then at the sides it changed to brown.

With all her hair pulled back, her blue eyes were clearly seen. They were remarkable; as blue as the ocean, and dazzling every second of every day. Even when she was tired, they never stopped shining. Paired with the black mascara that she wore, and her soft-pink-colored lipstick, my mother looked beautiful that day — even though she was wearing her regular work clothes (a green-colored nursing uniform with pants).

I was about to welcome her back home, when I noticed the person behind her. My breath caught in my throat as I stared, shocked, at Mrs. Brooksteen.

W-what… what is she d-doing here? How does she know where I live?

"Bunny," I heard my mother say in a slight Spanish accent as she held the door open for Mrs. Brooksteen. "Can you please get our guest a glass of water?"

"That won't be necessary, Mrs. Sánchez." Mrs. Brooksteen said. My mother immediately turned around to look at her.

"Are you sure?" She asked.

"I'm certain; I won't be here long. I just came to give Bunny a few things that she'll need for school." I blinked when she said this. I was so surprised. She came all the way to my house just to give me school supplies? That… that's the first time someone's ever done that for me… and I greatly appreciated it.

"I see. But are you sure you don't want anything to drink, Mrs. Brooksteen? Or even a light snack?" My mother is a very hospitable woman. It never sat right with her when someone who visited the house, was not fed or given a glass of water. She said that it was important to make others feel at home by doing these things; that way, we'll gain a better relationship with them.

"I'm certain, but thank you for offering. It'll really only take a moment." Mrs. Brooksteen said.

"Well, in that case, if you'd please excuse me, I have to head upstairs." My mother said. Mrs. Brooksteen nodded, and my mother passed me as she headed upstairs. I felt very nervous when she left. I was alone now, with Mrs. Brooksteen. I didn't know her very well considering how I haven't had her as a teacher, until now — all I knew came from rumors of the children that were in her class.

And so I stood there. Silent, still, and stiff as a board, and tried my best to try to not make complete eye-contact with her. I stared at her face, yes, but not directly in her eyes. I think that would just make the moment more awkward.

After a few moments of silence, she sighed.

"How are you, Bunny?" Her voice scared me for a moment, since it had been so silent, and I hadn't expected her to speak any time soon. She noticed when I flinched, and raised an eyebrow. I couldn't help myself as I blushed.

"I—I'm f-fine." I said softly; extremely embarrassed.

"Are you certain? You seemed… distraught when you left the school this afternoon…" I bit my bottom lip and fiddled with the end of my shorts — pulling them down to hide more skin — as I remembered what had happened that afternoon, at school. All of the emotions came running back to me as the scenes replayed themselves in my head. It was such an awful feeling.

"I—I'm fine now, Mrs. Brooksteen, b-but thank you f-for asking." I said to her.

"Well it's good to see that you've recovered, in a way." She said. I managed to give her a gentle smile. Then I watched as she moved her arms forward, and I noticed the papers in her hands. "These are tonight's homework assignments for each class that you missed, as well as some notes. I hope you don't mind that I came to bring them to you." My eyes widened as I stared at the small group of papers; shock written in them.

So that's why she's here…

"A-ah, thank you!" I said, nervously, as I went to grasp onto the three or so sheets. I shifted them in my hands, before looking up at her. "F-forgive me for being s-such a bother… it… it m-must've taken t-time to be able to d-do this for me…" I said.

"It was no bother." She said; I was surprised by how nice she was to me. The rumors always painted her as a strict, uncaring teacher. But… it didn't seem that she was that way, at all. I noticed her glancing down at her watch. "Now, I must really be going."

"I'll s-show you out." I said, even though the door was right behind her. It surprised me when the edges of her lips rose in a gentle smile.

"Thank you." She replied. I managed to smile back at her and followed behind her as she turned around to head to the door. She opened it, and I held onto the doorknob as she released it, and exited. But she did not immediately leave. Instead, she turned around once one foot was on the greeting mat that was placed there, and spoke.

"Bunny, my room is always open during lunch. If you'd like, you can stay there; I can even write you a pass so that you can be able to get your lunch, and go back up there, if you want." Her offer surprised me, and I had a feeling that it was clearly shown on my face.

_Something told me that she learned the details of what had happened during lunch time, and that was the reason why she was telling me this… I appreciated it, though._

"T-thank you, Mrs. Brooksteen." I said. "B-but I u-usually go to the l-library on the s-sec-second floor during l-lunch…" I said.

"Well, whenever it's not open, you're welcome to come to my room." She said. I gave her a gentle smile while nodding my head; it felt good to have an alternative for whenever the library wasn't open.

Especially since it didn't include me having to head down the playground, instead, and sitting awkwardly on a bench while I watched everyone playing, and hoped they'd leave me be.

"Thank you." I said, again. "I g-greatly appreciate it."

"You're welcome. Now, I really must be going." She said as she once again glanced down at her black-colored watch. "I'll see you at school tomorrow, first thing in the morning, Bunny." She said. I nodded.

"S-see you tomorrow M-mrs. Brooksteen. A-and thank you, one-once again for t-taking the time to b-bring me my homework." She nodded at me, and then walked down the vertical, stone path that led from my front door and intersected with the sidewalk. When she was near her black-colored car (it was a very nice model, too), I closed the door, and locked it.

Looking down at the sheets of homework in my hand, I decided that I would start on them after I finished my cereal. So I went over to the hook that held my backpack, and placed them in my backpack, before heading back to the leaving room, and continuing to eat my cereal.

I felt a little better, when I sat down. I had been somewhat depressed earlier, given what happened, but now that my mother was home, and Mrs. Brooksteen had been kind enough to not only bring me my homework, but also give me permission to stay in her room when I pleased, I felt better. For the first time, in a long time, I felt that my life wasn't as horrible as it would normally be—

That is, until my mother (finished refreshing herself and all) asked me why I had left school so early without permission.

It brought my mood back down, as I remembered.

And it hurt me to tell her what had happened — from the incident in the classroom, to what happened in the cafeteria. And it upset me even more when I saw her reaction; she was angry, furious, upset and so many other things. But mostly, I could see the sadness in her eyes.

It was due to the fact that I was again going to have another school year of nothing but being bullied. She had been telling me, every time we had talked about the upcoming school year before today, that this school year would be one of my greatest. That the kids would like me, and I would pass all of my classes with flying colors, and graduate valedictorian. One-half of that was no longer a possibility, and it was considered to be the most important.

The look in her eyes as I told her that Malissa branded me her slave for the incident in class, earlier that day, made my heart twist painfully. I could clearly see the hurt and pain in her eyes as I told her the lunch incident.

And when I was done, she didn't say to me, _"Don't worry, it'll all be alright"_. No. Instead, she gave me a soft, sad smile and told me to stay strong — "¡Mantente fuerte, Conjeita!" — before getting up from her chair, and heading into the kitchen to make herself a cup or two of her usual, evening tea.

I didn't finish my cereal; my appetite gone.

The look in her eyes…

It made me cry.

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><p>And there we go! The revised second chapter; obviously several parts are different — especially the final scene. I hope that you guys enjoyed it! I really want to make it better than the original, and include things that were missing and thicken the plot.<p>

Next chapter: A month later, and a new girl arrives. Who is she? Plus, more tasks assigned to her by Malissa. What is the little demon gonna have her do, now?

Please review!

Xoxoxo Chibi Star Vamp


	3. The New Girl

Hello, hello. Welcome to the third chapter of this insanely long (I'm estimating over forty or so chapters, total) story! I really hope that you all enjoy this chapter because it introduces some very important characters and mini-plots. And of course, I'm drawing-out some events because it just makes more sense to let things grow and build-up and stuff. Anyways, enough of this Author's Note and get on reading! :D

I own _everything_!

Enjoy!

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><p><span>Animetra Princess<span>

_**Chapter 2: The New Girl**_

***By Chibi Star Vamp***

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><p>It's October now, and that means that the weather's starting to get colder — it also means that it's been a little over a month since that faithful day in the cafeteria.<p>

The past month has been terrible for me.

It seems like the incident at the cafeteria has actually caused kids to notice me, but in less than flattering ways. Kids were now picking on me more than usual. It's so awful. A little fifth-grade girl had once come up to me and taunted me for how I look, act, and dress. And all I could do was stand there and continue to be taunted.

_I liked school a lot better when no one noticed me…_

Not only that, but Malissa has not wasted a second in taking advantage of my new title. She has had me do everything from the little homework that out teachers have been providing us, to actually picking-up her dry cleaning and such.

It really is such a horrible feeling to have to follow the orders of someone around your age, and to know that there isn't a thing that you can do about it…

I was snapped out of my thoughts (jumping in my seat a little) by the sound of the bell ringing. Calming down and raising my head to look at the clock, I saw that it was now 8:15am and class was starting.

I was seated at the lone desk, as usual.

While Mrs. Brooksteen had changed seats around, she didn't move me, or make anyone else sit in the back with me. But I didn't mind. It was much better this way — now more than ever. Surely, if I was seated next to anyone, they would constantly copy my work, and mock me (calling me _Pizza Face_). And if I did anything to make them stop, they'd tell Malissa, and I would get in more trouble.

Somehow, word had spread around the school that I was now her servant, and that if I did anything wrong, to report it to her. Now it was not only Malissa and her friends that I had to be wary of, but every student in the entire school.

_It was a frightening situation, for someone like me. Eyes were literally everywhere, and focused on me._

I had my math supplies laid on my desk, and patiently waited for Mrs. Brooksteen to arrive. I crossed my arms, and placed them on top of my notebook before turning my head to the side and resting it on my arms.

I exhaled; trying to block-out the chatter of the other students.

The somewhat silent, peaceful moment only lasted for a few seconds, though, because a while after I had laid my head down, I managed to pick-up on the familiar sounds of the door opening.

I raised my head and began to straighten my posture as my eyes focused on the door. I could see the slight twists of the faded iron-gold colored doorknob as Mrs. Brooksteen opened the door. Then it fully turned to one side, and the door was pushed open.

Immediately I spotted Mrs. Brooksteen; wearing a long-sleeved blue female dress shirt that was tucked beneath her black female slacks, with a black belt laced into it. She once again wore heels that were appropriate for school, and had her hair back in a bun. Her face adorned her usual makeup; some possible eye-shadow along with mascara and red lips. Then there was her basic jewelry: a necklace and her black watch.

(Just like my mother, Mrs. Brooksteen dressed perfectly for her age and profession. She was really very well put-together).

Like every day, she had the class attendance in her free arm. But unlike usual, Mrs. Brooksteen didn't enter the classroom. Instead she continued to hold the door open.

This piqued my curiosity.

Was there a visitor? Perhaps it was the principal; it was around the time of the school year that he began to routinely checkup on the students. After all, state tests were coming-up and the school had quite a record for doing well, during them — a record everyone knows the principal wants to keep.

In fact, I had my mind so set on the possibility of the mystery-visitor being the principal, that I was more-than-shocked when I realized that it wasn't him.

Far from it, actually.

Instead of the principal entering in another one of his brown suits and randomly-patterned ties, a girl entered the room. She entered with her head held high and a smile on her face, and was quiet as she lined-up in front of the long chalkboard and then turned towards the class.

She had light blonde hair. It was a little short and went down to her shoulders, and was cut in layers. On her head was a navy-colored headband with a large white bow placed its left side. Her hair shielded her ears and her bangs stopped a little before her blue eyes. They were amazing, her eyes; the color of the ocean. They were surrounded by her black eyelashes that made them stand-out even more. But it didn't look like she was wearing mascara or eye-shadow — in fact her face seemed bare of any makeup, even her lips.

Her uniform was very… unique. She was wearing the necessary clothing — light blue-colored shirt along with a navy skirt or pants — but they seemed to be altered. The shirt she wore had embroidery at the edge of the collar. And while most shirts did have this, her embroidery was of the color yellow and not the color of the shirt. Along with that, the buttons of the shirt weren't the usual gray or white; they were instead a hot-pink color that really stood-out among all the blue. And on the pocket on the left side of her shirt, was a large _M_ done in a very swirly script.

Her uniform shirt was tucked underneath her school pants. Only, her pants weren't normal. They were short; going down to her thighs. The button that closed them was also a hot-pink color. It surprised me that her pants were so short. I mean, I understood that the school allowed students to wear short pants, but I doubt that they were supposed to be as short as hers — in fact, I think that's against the school dress code.

But just because her pants were short, that doesn't mean that the skin of her legs was showing. The skin there was slightly darker; she seemed to be wearing pantyhose or tights. She also wore black-colored flats, and slung across her torso was a messenger bag. It was overly-decorated with all sorts of things, but… it looked really pretty and neat.

There was a bright, friendly smile on her face.

While she stood there, and as Mrs. Brooksteen closed the door and headed towards her desk, I could hear the soft chatter of the entire class. It was very rare when the school got a student. Most of the people that attended entered the school in the fifth grade — when they were allowed to enroll. So whenever a new student came, they were the talk of the school for about the whole week, until everyone finally calmed down and went-on with their daily school lives.

I've seen this happen a few times. Most of the time, the week was spent gossiping about the new arrival and learning everything about them. The popular kids were especially invested in this task.

(Malissa always wanted to know as much about someone as she possibly could, so that she had a good idea of how to keep them beneath her. I know this because she did this to me).

But unlike everyone else in the whole class, I didn't pay much attention to the new girl. Why would I? The odds of me getting acquainted with her were nonexistent. There was no reason to learn her name, and her personality; because by the end of the day, she would dislike me just like everyone else at the school, does.

So while I knew that it was somewhat rude to not pay attention to a newcomer, instead of looking at the girl, I resumed the pose that I had earlier, and continued to block-out all other noises.

Vaguely, I heard Mrs. Brooksteen ask her for her name. I didn't hear it; everything sounded like a blur to me. But the one thing I heard more clearly than anything was Mrs. Brooksteen say: "Take a seat in one of the empty desks in the back. I'll have an official seat for you, tomorrow."

I could not help the light gasp that emerged from my mouth as she said this. I raised my head, just in time to watch the new girl as she made her way towards me.

I was silent, and looked away from her as she passed all the desks, and continued to walk to the back. I didn't move my head to look at her when I heard one of the empty chairs next to me scrape against the floor as she pulled it back.

No.

Instead I could feel my body begin to shake with nervousness as she took a seat at my left side. Why? Why did she want to sit so close to me? She'll end-up regretting it by the end of the day… I could almost hear her voice as she _begged_ Mrs. Brooksteen to sit her as far away from me as possible…

"Hi." I jumped slightly at the sound of a cheery voice. My breath caught in my throat when the voice continued to speak. "My name's Mikaela. Blanc Mikaela, but you can call me Mickey. What's yours?"

I—it… the new girl… s-sh-she's the one—s-she's t-talk-ing to me…

"Hello? Can you hear me?"

Despite it being very rude to not pay attention to her, I knew that I couldn't. If I did, no doubt it would be reported to Malissa that I was speaking to the new girl… and then who _knows _what Malissa might have me do…

And so, I stayed silent.

The new girl didn't try to speak to me again. Instead, the only person talking was Mrs. Brooksteen as she took attendance. When she said my name, I replied with a soft, _"Here,"_ but I knew that I didn't have to answer. Mrs. Brooksteen saw me this morning when I entered her classroom before anyone else, and therefore knew that I was already present in class.

"Oh, so your name is _Bunny_. That's a really pretty name." I blushed a little when she said that my name was pretty, and I wanted to thank her for being so nice, but… but I could feel _eyes _on me.

There was no way that I could speak to this girl while Tracy was surely watching my every move.

Besides, she'll end-up hating me, anyway.

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><p>Lunch<p>

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><p>It was lunch time.<p>

The students had all left the classroom and were downstairs eating and enjoying recess. They were talking about the weekend and the new girl, most likely, as they munched on the provided lunch, or bought some from the vendors that were outside and stationed on the borders of the playground.

They were playing, laughing, having fun, and enjoying the forty-five-minute break from the classroom as they took-in the fresh air and whatnot.

But not me.

I was not downstairs in the cafeteria, nor outside and taking in some of the nutrients that the sun provided. I was not eating the lunch that the school provided, or the vendors sold. Instead I was upstairs, still in the classroom, and enjoying a homemade sandwich at my desk.

Mrs. Brooksteen sat at her own desk, and was eating her lunch as well, while flipping through a binder.

While it may seem odd to stay inside the classroom and have lunch with your teacher, there, it was my routine. Or at least, it was an advanced version of my routine. Before, I would go down to the library and spend my lunch period there; helping out the sweet librarian however I can, or reading one of the numerous books that it held. But since a month ago when Mrs. Brooksteen arrived at my house and offered her room, I've been coming here whenever the librarian is not there.

Earlier that period, I had gone downstairs, with my lunch, to the second floor and to the library. I saw a sign that said that it was closed, and came back up here to spend the lunch period.

As usual, Mrs. Brooksteen didn't mind that I was there. She greeted me and gave me a gentle smile before opening the door, and letting me enter. Since then, I've been silently eating my sandwich and drinking my juice box.

I ate the last bit of my sandwich, and finished my juice, before placing the empty plastic wrap and juice box back inside the paper bag that held my lunch, and closing it. I then stood from my seat and went over to the trashcan in the back of the classroom. I released my bag and let it fall inside, before going up to Mrs. Brooksteen.

"Take the pass." I nodded my head and muttered a soft, _"O-okay,"_ before heading over to the small board that held the class schedule, and grabbing the girls' bathroom pass that was placed underneath it.

It didn't surprise me that Mrs. Brooksteen knew what I was going to ask her. I always asked her if I could use the bathroom after I finish my lunch.

Opening the door, I looked left and right before exiting the room. I clutched the pass tightly and was sure to be very quiet as I turned a corner and walked up the hallway, to the bathroom. The hallway was somewhat vacant, the only people there being two teachers as they walked in the opposite direction; most likely headed to the office or teacher's lounge.

When I was halfway down the hallway, I froze in my tracks. I could feel my heart begin to pound and my eyes go wide as I spotted another one of Malissa's friends.

She had light brown hair. It was naturally curly, and she always had it up in a ponytail, with the slight curls that covered her face, pulled back with a barrette. Today, it was a barrette of a white daisy. Unlike Malissa, her black eyes were not framed by mascara-applied-eyelashes, but regular eyelashes. In fact, the only makeup she had on was the soft-red-colored lipstick that covered her lips.

She was wearing the same uniform shirt that I had on (long-sleeved cotton light-blue blouse, with white buttons), and wore a navy blue skirt that went down to a little past her knees. The skirt was a little tight until the end, and there were slight ruffles bordering it. She also had on what seemed to be white pantyhose, and black boots that went up a little below her knees. The boots didn't really have heels, or a design on them, but they were definitely pretty and most likely Malissa-approved.

Her name was Ruby Blue.

My heart especially hurt when I saw her…

You see, Ruby and I once had the opportunity to be friends. When she transferred here from the South, I was the first person that she met. She liked me, and we became friends, and stayed that way for week — until Ruby, one day, told me that she and I had no future as being friends, and that she was sorry it turned out that way.

It had hurt me so much. I had finally made a friend after a year at being at the school, and she suddenly no longer wanted anything to do with me. It confused me as to why, after a week of good friendship, she broke it off.

Even to this day, I don't know why she broke our friendship. But I have a suspicion that it had something to do with Malissa. Why? Because, a little while after that, Ruby joined Malissa's group. And not just as someone in her good graces, but as a personal member of her very close circle of friends; the last addition to her four-woman crew that also included Tracy.

I stayed quiet and still, my heart and mind bringing-up those memories of that week that occurred a little under two years ago, where Ruby and I were friends, and had fun together.

The weight of the memories became especially unbearable when she turned around, and spotted me.

All I did was stand there, and stare at her.

And she stared at me for a few seconds, before turning around and walking up the hallway and towards the staircase. I could hear the soft heels of her shoes as they made contact with the floor. The urge to talk to her was overwhelming, but I held myself back. What would I say to her? Why would she listen?

So I just watched as she disappeared behind the darkish-orange doors that hid the staircase. When she was gone, I sighed and resumed my walk to the bathroom.

When I finally got there, I headed over to the sink. I didn't need to use the toilet or anything, just wash my hands.

I had just turned the water on, and was getting the soap when, out of nowhere, I heard. "Oh hey! It's you again, Bunny!" I froze mid-scrub. Looking into the wide mirror in front of me, I saw that the person whom had just spoken my name was the new girl… I couldn't help the feeling of dread that entered my stomach as I realized this.

Since she sat down next to me, the new girl has tried to speak to me several times. And while she seemed very nice, and I wanted to speak to her, I knew that I couldn't — shouldn't.

Malissa was still a factor in my life, and until I was no longer under her control, I couldn't try and make any friends.

That's why, while she spoke, I continued washing my hands.

"Hey, how come you don't talk to me?" She asked, as she began to wash her hands. "I mean, I understand if you're shy, but that doesn't mean that you have to _ignore _me. I'm only being nice…"

"Uh—I… I k-know…"

"Oh! So you _do _speak. And here I was thinking that you were mute or something." She said with a slight giggle. But while it seemed like she was only joking, it hurt me a little. Those words sounded vaguely like something Malissa had said to me on my first week at the school, and they brought-about horrible memories.

I bit my bottom lip as I finished washing my hands. I then grabbed a paper towel and dried them, and used the paper towel to turn-off the water.

"Hm… It seems like you _are _a mysophobic, just like they said you were." Her comment surprised me.

"E-excuse m-m-me?" I asked.

"A girl came in here and started telling me all about you, Bunny. A lot of the things were _really _negative — most of them travelling along the line of you being a freak or whatever, but I don't believe them. You just seem really shy. Anyway, one of the things she told me was that you were really, really, _really _afraid of germs and all that. I didn't think that was true until now."

I mentally gasped. Is that… is that why Ruby was in the hallway? Had she been the one to tell the new girl all of these things? Oh no… it was starting sooner than I expected…

I didn't answer her. Instead I threw the paper towel away and began to exit the bathroom.

"Hey! Hold on Bunny!"

I could hear the new girl following me as I headed back to class. She kept calling-out to me, and eventually a teacher came out onto the hallway to speak about all the noise. I don't know what happened next, because when the teacher came-out of their classroom, I was in front of Mrs. Brooksteen's door.

Opening it, I went inside and closed it behind me. When I was putting the pass back on the hook, I flinched when the door opened and the new girl began to speak.

"Hi Mrs. B!" She said.

"Miss Blanc." Mrs. Brooksteen responded while I made my way to the closet. I grabbed onto the small wooden handle and pushed one of the doors back. It bent at angle because the closet doors were two wooden planks put together with hinges. As soon as I had it open, I located my backpack and opened one of the two largest pockets.

I could vaguely hear Mrs. Brooksteen speaking to the new girl, and then silence. I wasn't curious as to why it suddenly became quiet. Instead, I grabbed the largest book inside of my backpack. It was a drawing notebook. It held over a hundred blank pages, along with fifty or so pages already filled with my drawings.

I pulled it out of my backpack and hurried back to my desk. Glancing at the clock as I sat down, I noticed that I only had a half-hour left before the other students arrived.

And so I wasted no time, as I sat down at my desk, in opening my drawing book and flipping to my last drawing. When I finally reached the work-in-progress drawing, I turned my notebook so that it was in landscape position and not portrait, and left my spiral book open to it as I went inside of my desk to search for my pencil case and grab a pencil.

I wasn't too focused on my search for a pencil, to notice the footsteps coming closer to me. I sighed when I heard the new girl's familiar voice. Why wouldn't she just leave me alone?

"Hey what are—" She gasped.

I looked up at the new girl, and was confused at her facial expression. Her eyes were wide, and her mouth was open. There was no guessing that she was shocked or surprised at something, but at what exactly, I don't know.

Her mouth began to move, and it seemed like she was trying to form words, but couldn't.

I wanted to ask her what was wrong, but then I realized that, if I did, then she would start pestering me again (and yes, I know that that sounds mean, but I don't see why I should try to socialize with her; the other girls were already starting to try to get her to hate me… it's only a matter of time before they succeeded). So I stayed silent, and with the pencil in my hand, I went to finish shading in the areas of my picture.

It was a really simple picture; a crescent moon turned to the left, with four isosceles triangles bordering where the rest of the moon would've been if it weren't in its crescent shape. Of course, being as how I had found that a little plain, I also added a line of swirly designs on the crescent moon, and thicker, more leaf-like versions of that same design beneath the moon.

I don't know why the new girl found it so shocking. Or perhaps it's because… she disliked it. It tightened my grip on my pencil when I thought of it.

One of the reasons why I've shown no one but my mom my drawings is because I don't want to hear what others think about them. I hardly do anything that I enjoy because I'm afraid of being under someone's scrutiny, and if the new girl were to say that she disliked my drawings… I don't know what I'd do.

But I doubt it'd be positive.

"Did you draw this?!" I jumped a little in my seat when the new girl spoke — or more like, shouted.

"Miss Blanc, inside voice, please." Mrs. Brooksteen said.

"Oops. Sorry Mrs. B!" She shouted back. "I didn't mean to. I was just really surprised by Bunny's drawing. Want to see it?" When she placed her hands on my drawing notebook, I immediately grasped it on the other side.

"H-hey! W-wh-what are you d-doing?!" I exclaimed as I questioned her.

"Calm down Bunny. I'm just going to show Mrs. B—"

"No! G-give it back! T-th-that's m-mine!" I said as I continued to try and get my book back from her. But she was persistent, and wouldn't give it up so easily. Why was she doing it? What was she planning to do with my book?

I doubt that she truly wanted to show it to Mrs. Brooksteen. There had to be another reason — a horrible reason for her wanting to see my book so much.

"Relax, I just want to—"

"No! P-please give it back! Please!" I exclaimed.

I continued to pull and so did she. I didn't believe that smile on her face as she continued to try and take my book. I didn't believe the words that were coming out of her mouth as she supposedly tried to calm me down. No. I saw it all as a lie; a giant lie. Those weren't her real intentions — she was doing and saying everything that she currently was, for a reason.

And while I didn't care whether I learned what that reason was or not, I desperately wanted my book back.

"Bunny just—"

"Give it back! _Please_!" I was becoming frantic. My pulse was pounding and I could feel anxiety building inside of me. My book — why won't she just return it? What does the new girl want with it? Or… is it that she doesn't want a thing to do with it, but somebody _else_?

My heart sunk to my stomach.

Ruby… she had spoken to the new girl, inside of the bathroom. Could it be that the new girl already hated me, and that she was running an errand to get on Malissa's good side?

_Is that it?!_

"W-why are you d-do-doing this?" I asked as we continued to pull on my book. "W-wh-why won't you g-give it back?"

"I want to show Mrs. B."

"Why?!" I shouted. I could feel tears of frustration wanting to come-out, but I wouldn't let them. Instead I continued to blink them back as the scuffle continued.

I just want my book back.

_Why won't she give it back?!_

And then it happened.

I heard the worst sound ever, and stood, shocked, as I looked down at my notebook. My eyes widened, my heart felt a stab of pain, and I silently gasped as I spotted the tear that had formed at the side of the page.

"P-please! Stop! Y-you're _tearing it_!"

She began to pull harder.

"Let me just show Mrs. B and—"

_Rip!_

I fell back. My back hit the long table behind me that stretched from one end of the room to the other, and I clutched onto whatever it was that I had. When I finally composed myself and opened my eyes, I gasped when I looked down at what I had in my hands.

It was my book. Only… the page that I had been working on, was _torn in two_!

"No…" I softly, sadly muttered as I looked down at less than half of what I had been drawing, and desperately had hoped to work-on in class. Only about two inches leading up to the tips of the moon were showing; everything else was missing.

This time, I didn't bother with trying to hide my tears, or hold them back. Instead I let them fall as I looked at the broken paper. My drawing… why wouldn't she let go?!

"Oh my god, Bunny, I—"

"P-please…" I said as I continued to shake and cry, cutting her off. "J-just… just… leave me alone."

"What? No. Don't worry, I can fix it."

"Leave me alone…"

"If you'll just hand me the book, I'll put the pieces back together so perfectly, that you won't even _think _that they'd originally been—"

"_Leave me alone_!"

I didn't mean to shout at her, but I couldn't help myself. I released my book and ran past my desk and the new girl. I ran all the way up to the small board the held the passes, and looked back at Mrs. Brooksteen — tears still falling from my eyes.

"C-can I—"

She sighed.

"Just be sure to be back here before the next class starts." She said.

I nodded my head and grabbed the girls' bathroom pass, before exiting the room and running back to the bathroom. When I got inside, I locked myself in the smallest, most insignificant stall, placed the lid down, sat on it, hugged my knees to my chest, and buried my head in my hands as I began to cry.

The new girl already hated me.

That must be why she just bullied me and broke my paper.

Why must I be so cursed?

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><p>End of School — 2:20pm<p>

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><p>School was done.<p>

Everyone packed-up and the teachers let the students out of the classrooms. With my backpack on my shoulders, and wearing my sweater, I grasped onto the straps of my backpack and walked-out of the class. But instead of heading towards the staircases, I instead made my way to the right, where there were other classroom doors, and headed towards Malissa's classroom.

Being as how she had (against my will) claimed me, every day I couldn't leave the school until she told me to. And so I stood outside of her class, along with Tracy, as we both waited for Malissa to get out of the room.

It was awkward standing there with Tracy. She absolutely resented me for accidentally breaking her nose. Even now, a month later, it still wasn't healed. She still wore that bandage around her nose… and looked at me with more malice and bad intentions than ever before. I think that out of all of them, she enjoys it the most that I'm under Malissa's control — especially since, twice now, Malissa has allowed Tracy to order me around; and she was anything but kind and considerate when it came to what she wanted me to do.

As the minutes passed, more of Malissa's group joined — including Tracy's rumored boyfriend Gerald, and Ruby — and when nearly all of them had assembled, Malissa finally came-out of the classroom. Her gaze landed on everyone as she looked at them, scrutinized me the most, and then asked, "Where's Brian?"

"He went home, Malissa." Tracy said.

"Why?" It was easy to figure-out that she didn't sound pleased.

"Dentist." Gerald answered. "He left after lunch. Didn't he tell you?" Malissa shook her head. She then sighed and flipped her bangs with her head.

"Whatever. Let's just go. We've got _lots _to do today." The semi-sweet voice that she said this in, coupled with the smile and the look of deviousness in her eyes, made my stomach churn unpleasantly.

Malissa began to walk, and then the others and myself followed. I made sure to keep my eyes on the back of Malissa's head as I walked. From earlier experience, I knew that, at any moment, Malissa could turn around and speak to me — order me to do something, and if I didn't hear it, and she had to repeat it…

_I don't want any more scars…_

The walk outside of the school was quick. Malissa led us all down the back stairwell, and we exited through the back of the school. Then we began to walk down the sidewalk to our left; no doubt headed towards the bus stop.

"You all brought money, right?" Malissa asked as she paused for a moment to look at the street, before crossing to the sidewalk intersecting with the one we had been on. Her question confused me. Money? What money? I was never told that I had to bring any amount of money today…

"Yes!" They all answered in unison. Even though the back of her head was towards me, I could practically see Malissa's smirk.

"Good." Those were the final words she said.

After crossing the street, we walked down a few more blocks, and turned a few corners, before stopping at a bus stop. We waited there for a short while (Malissa didn't converse with the other school students that were there, that desperately wanted to speak with her [I found this odd]) before the bus came.

Since I had no money, I thought that I wouldn't be able to get on, but I was surprised when Malissa paid for my fare.

It also frightened me.

We… we had never gotten on the bus, before. We would always stay in the neighborhood — her house, Tracy's house — when she decided to use her power over me to make me do something. So why — why, all of sudden, were we leaving the neighborhood? What was she planning?

"Hurry and sit." Tracy said to me as she pushed me forward on the bus. I nearly tripped and fell, but I grasped onto one of the numerous steel poles that hung around; it saved me.

When I quickly composed myself, I continued to move to the very back. The seats there were all empty. But it didn't last long as Malissa's group quickly filled the entirety of the back of the bus; stopping anyone else from sitting there.

The bus doors closed, and began to move.

My nerves grew as I got further and further from my safety zone. I've never gone deeper into the city — surely where Malissa was taking me because I also take this bus to go into other parts of the city, with my mother.

I fidgeted with my hands; playing with my fingers to try and calm my nerves. But I couldn't. With each stop, each street, each light, I was getting further and further away from home.

Oh god… why did I allow her to take me in here?

* * *

><p>.<p>

* * *

><p>A half hour (give or take) later, when the bus came to a stop near The Square, Malissa stood.<p>

"This is our stop," was the only confirmation she gave as she walked down the two or so steps it took to get to the nearest exit. One-by-one we all piled-out of the bus and made our way over to the busy, overly-crowded street.

The Square was a very popular shopping area. It held several stores, facilities, and restaurants — as well as was a popular hangout for teenagers and such. All around me, there were masses of people — selling, buying, speaking, yelling — walking around and heading somewhere. Where? I don't know, and I never will. I was more concerned with where Malissa was leading me.

She began to walk down a familiar path that intersected with a subway stop. We passed by several stores that sold women's clothing and cell-phones, and crossed the street to the other side. Looking-up, I saw a child's clothing store, and a few restaurants.

"W-whe—"

"Anyone hungry?" Malissa asked before I could ask her where we were headed. I often did this when I left the safety of school and home with her, and she almost always provided a response. When she didn't, it's because she would just be silent; not stop me as I began to speak.

"We're all _starving_!" Said Julia. She was the third out of the four girls that constantly surrounded Malissa; along with Tracy and Ruby.

Julia Grey was the cheeriest of the bunch. She had short black hair that was always curled whether loose or tight, and it went down to half of her ears. She had hazel eyes that were covered in mascara and eye-shadow. The color always matched the color of the shirt she wore underneath her school uniform; today it was pink. She also wore matching pink lip-gloss, and was wearing pink jewelry.

Her uniform was of a polyester, short-sleeved light blue blouse — the long-sleeved pink shirt that she was wearing, underneath and showing — and a skirt that reached her knees. She, despite the weather, wore black flats.

She was known as the craziest among Malissa's group; very girly, very free-spirited, and without a care in the world. It was one of the reasons why, although she was so young, she partied a lot and left the house on her own in the middle of the night — of course, these are just rumors but… sadly, I wouldn't put it past her if she did.

As bad as it is to judge someone, she doesn't seem like the type of girl that would stay-in all night.

"Good," Malissa said. "You guys head over to a JFC; while Bunny and I go do some shopping." I felt my heart sink for the umpteenth time that day. "And remember what I said… see ya." She grasped my hand and began to drag me away from the popular restaurant.

"W-w-w-w-whe—"

"You and I are going to have our own little fun, Bunny." She said as we crossed a street, and almost got hit by a car. The driver was angry and honked their horn. I watched as Malissa rolled her eyes at the driver, and then continued to drag me along. "Now remember this Bunny, you're my slave, and as such, you have to do _everything _that I say. No matter how awful." My heart began to race.

I gulped.

"W-wha—what are y-y-you-u gonna have m-me do?" I questioned; my panic growing as we got into an area of The Square that held less people.

"You're flat as a board, right?" Her question caused me to gasp. Shock ruled over my emotions. Why would she ask me such a thing? "An A-cup, right?" I felt my face heat-up. She looked back at me; her eyes roamed my body. "You'll be _perfect_."

Her words only made me more confused; and my confusion only grew as we entered a small boutique away from the center of The Square, and she pulled me into the back. We reached an area that held several dressing rooms, and she pushed me in one, and went in with me.

"W-w-w-wha—"

"Shh!" She said as she placed her hand over my mouth; my heart was pounding in my chest. I could feel her touch on my hips. W-what… what is she gonna do? "Be quiet, will ya — jeez…"

I flinched and tried to get her grip off of my mouth when I felt the waistband of my school uniform pants, lower.

"Calm down." I shook my head and continued to try and get out of her grip. No. Whatever it was that she was trying to do, I didn't want to do it. I wanted to go home. I wanted to take a bath, do my homework, eat, and chat with my mother before falling asleep. I shouldn't have gotten on the bus… why did I get on the bus?

By that point, I had begun to cry. Malissa kept trying to calm me down — pushing me against the wall and speaking in my ear words that should be said lovingly and caringly; not full of anger and annoyance.

But they were useless.

I continued to struggle. At one point, I felt her grip become tighter and more painful against my wrist, and I screamed into her hand in pain. It felt as if she were trying to crush my bone.

"Would you _calm down_ already?!" She angrily whispered to me. "Nothing bad is going to happen to you… I just need you to change your clothing." My eyes swirled with confusion, tears still leaking, as my mind slowly processed what she had told me. W-why does she need me to change my clothes?

"Yeah. That's right. Nothing _bad _is gonna happen to you, dweeb. You're just gonna change your clothes. Wait here; I'll get them for you — but when I get back, you better be down to your underwear, _or else_." I was shaking when she opened the dressing room door, and closed it. Almost immediately I wrapped my arms around myself and slid down the wall of the dressing room. I hugged my knees to my chest, and continued to cry the entire time that she was gone.

What was happening? Why did she need me to change my clothes? What was she planning?

I'm so scared. I'm scared and I want to call my mom and go home… I want to go home, I want to go home! The tears fell from my eyes faster as I hugged my knees more to my body. I wanted, desperately, to go home. Why didn't I just go home? Why did I follow her and her friends?

_Why do I allow her to rule my life?_

I jumped and let out a squeak when the door opened. Looking up, I covered my mouth when I stared-up at Malissa. I felt my blood run cold, and my body temperature drop, at the glare that she sent me.

"What the hell?" She screamed/whispered at me as she fully entered the room and closed the dressing room door behind her. "I thought I told you to strip down to your underwear?"

I stayed silent; chewing on my bottom look as the tears continued to fall. Malissa groaned, and then grasped onto my wrist. I let out a whimpering noise when she pulled me up and threw me against the wall. My body was shaking, and I immediately brought my hands up to cover my head.

I heard her scoff.

"I'm not going to hit you, you idiot. Now hurry-up and get dressed — we're pressed for time here." She threw something that had been in her hands, at me. I couldn't catch it, but looking down, I saw that it was clothes.

I spotted the price tags — they were from inside the store.

"Try these on, and quick!" She screamed at me. But there was a smile on her face and she said it in a very… excited, teenage girl way; like I've heard on TV when girls go shopping together. "I bet you'll look _so cute_! I'll go get you more clothes." With a smile that I had never seen on her face, she looked at me and then left the room. "_You're gonna look so cute_!" I heard again.

I gulped down my nerves; my eyebrows furrowed.

What… is going on?

* * *

><p>I had dressed myself. After thinking about and becoming more unnerved by Malissa's behavior, I finally decided to just do as she said and get dressed. Maybe I'll get some answers, then? So I stripped myself, and put the clothes on that Malissa had brought-in for me.<p>

Now I was wearing a pair of skinny jeans that I felt very uncomfortable in, as well as a light yellow short-sleeved _Airo _(brand name) t-shirt that was also tight on my body. Along with that, I was also wearing a black belt, black converse, and a black leather hat with steel square-shaped studs on it. The dressing room had a mirror, and I couldn't help but continue to look at myself as I turned from side-to-side in the mirror.

I looked… odd in the clothing, and I felt very odd in it, as well. I was dressed like a normal teenage girl, and… if I squinted my eyes, I _looked _like a normal teenage girl and… p-pretty, too.

It was the first time I ever felt… _pretty_.

I jumped when the door swung open. In the mirror, I saw Malissa. She was holding more clothing in her arms and had that same smile on her face as before. She gasped; and for a moment I thought that she was angry at me again. But then she quickly placed the clothes somewhere outside the dressing room, and walked in — closing the door behind her.

"You. Look. _Gorgeous_!" I couldn't help but blush at her words; it was the first time someone had said such a thing to me. It made me feel so uncomfortable, but… but I appreciated it.

"T-t-t-t-t-th-a-n—"

"Oh shut it already." Her harsh language made me feel as if someone had smacked me in the face. She… had been pretending, hadn't she? That was all a show… but for what, and why?

I watched, silently and sadly, as she moved around the dressing room. I watched her shove my folded school clothes into my backpack, and close it. Then she stood and came over to me. She started to adjust the clothing, and I could feel light scratching against my skin.

"Ugh. Why didn't you tuck your hair _inside _the hat?" She removed the hat quickly before collecting all of my hair in one hand, and then putting the hat back on. This time, my hair wasn't very visible. I was in the midst of asking her what she was doing when she shoved something into the pocket of the jeans, and then did the same as she lowered herself and placed stuff in my shoes. What was she doing?

"M-mal-l-issa?" I started to ask her. She shushed me and then began to place my backpack on me. "W-wha—what's—"

"Be quiet already." She said to me as I adjusted my backpack on my shoulders. She then quickly began to put on her own backpack, and looped her arm around mine; before beginning to drag me out of the dressing room.

"Now come on." I stumbled as she began to pull me away from the dressing room. Confused, I looked-up and noticed that we were heading towards the exit of the store.

"M-mal-lissa, w-wait…" I said as we got closer and closer to the glass doors. "I—I h-have to c—"

Again, she shushed me.

"Be quiet." She said as she continued to walk. "Just follow my lead, and act casual, you idiot. You look like a deer in the headlights." I gulped and grew incredibly nervous when we reached the door. My eyes momentarily landed on the black rectangle-shaped machines that were used for security. I closed my eyes and waited, my blood rushing in my ears, for the alarm to go-off.

Is that what she was planning? Getting me arrested for shop-lifting against my will? What will my _mom_ say about that when she picks me up from the Police Station?

I was ready to cry as I continued to wait for the sounds of an alarm to ring in my ears. My body was locked and braced for the onslaught of adults to start questioning us — or me — as they headed towards the blazing sound.

The only thing was…

It never came.

When I had finally found the courage to open my eyes, I realized that I was outside, and down the sidewalk away from the store.

The alarm never went-off.

The shop-lift was… successful.

I felt so guilty. I was wearing stolen clothing. That store works hard for its money, and I was forcibly made to take-away from their profit… And while the difference may not be that much, it still hurt me to know that I had taken away something that is used to help someone's survival in this world…

I wanted to go back to that store, give them back the clothing, and pay for them as well.

And I would have done that — if I had money.

Even if I did hold the amount of cash it took to pay for the clothes, it was already too late to go back. Malissa and I had already crossed the street, and were on our way back to JFC. As we got further and further away from the clothing store, I felt my guilt grow.

"When we get inside, go into the bathroom and change out of those clothes. I need them." She said. Not being able to respond because I felt like the guilt was clogging my throat, I nodded my head. "And be quick with it."

* * *

><p>I was out of the clothes.<p>

I was in the JFC bathroom and was fixing the rest of my school uniform. The clothes that I had worn out of the store were currently neatly folded and inside a bag that Malissa had given it; oddly enough, it was the type of bag that you put a present into.

And this made me conclude that she made me wear the clothes because they were a present for someone, and she didn't have the money to pay for it.

But that didn't justify what she had me do.

She made me a criminal. Now I'm going to go the rest of my life remembering this day, and the first crime that I ever committed. And while it was forced, I still went-along with it. The security guards had been there. All I had to do was shout and tell them that she was making me steal clothing.

That would've ended it.

But at the same time, it also would've made Malissa furious at me. There's no telling what she would have done to me after that.

_Just thinking about it gave me the goose-bumps._

Finally, I finished adjusting my school uniform to how it was before and grabbed my backpack and the colorful bag. With it in hand, I opened the door to the restroom and quickly stepped-aside for the woman whom had been waiting to use it.

"S-sorry for t-taking such a l-lo-long time…" I said to her as I held it open; she was quite an elderly lady, and moved slowly.

"It's alright." She answered in a sweet voice. I momentarily smiled and closed the door for her, before the smile left my face as my eyes landed on where Malissa and her friends were — eating, and probably chatting about what I had done.

Gulping down my nerves, I began to walk over there. It was a short walk, and they spotted me before I even made it there.

"H-here you g-go." I said to Malissa as I handed her the bag. She took the brightly-colored item and held it in her hand; a smirk on her face.

"Good girl." She said to me.

I felt so much like a common dog at that moment. And perhaps that's what she saw me as? A dog; an animal that, with a few commands and some training, she can get it to do whatever it is that she wanted. And thinking about it more, I found that that made the most sense as to why Malissa constantly picked on me and lowered my self-esteem.

It was my training — to be her dog.

"Are you hungry?" She asked me; surprising me. I momentarily glanced at all the food on the table, my stomach grumbling, but I shook my head.

"N-no…" I said softly.

She shrugged. "Suit yourself. And to think I was willing to _pay_ for your food like I did for your bus ride. But oh well — it's your stomach." She placed the bag to the side and then said that I sit in one of the seats in the restaurant and wait for further instructions.

I nodded, and went to go find the closest empty seat to her.

When I sat down, I sighed. If Malissa truly saw me as her dog, then I guess that she had trained me pretty well, hadn't she?

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><p>.<p>

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><p>Home<p>

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><p>The rest of my time at The Square surprisingly ended quickly after all of them had finished eating. They packed-up, cleaned-up, and then Malissa gave me money for the bus ride, and left with her friends.<p>

Needless to say, it had surprised me when she said this. I had unknowingly set in my mind the idea that, after they finish eating, she'd make me steal some more. But that didn't mean that I wasn't glad when I found-out that that wasn't what she had planned for me next.

In fact, I was glad to finally be able to go home, and away from her. She already made me feel like a dog and a crook — what was next?

_That was something I didn't want to find-out._

Now I was walking down the sidewalk and only a few seconds away from my house. My pace was slow, and my mind kept replaying the fact that I had stolen something from a store. I wonder if the people who own it have realized that their profit wasn't adding-up with the amount of clothes that were selling, that day.

Or were they used to having people steal from them?

Either way, it didn't take away from the fact that Malissa made me commit a crime, and I was too weak and helpless to do anything about it.

_Why was I so weak?_

When I was close to my front door, I froze in my footsteps. My eyes widened when I looked at who was sitting there, on the footsteps.

The new girl.

She was sitting there, on the footstep that was connected to the platform that held my front door, and she was looking into a heart-shaped, bright-yellow and glittery object that was in the palm of her hand.

She looked-up at me when I gasped, and gave me a smile as she began to stand-up; closing the object. As she began to walk towards me, several questions ran through my mind.

How did she know where I live?

Why is she here?

Did she stalk me? Has she been stalking me all along?

Is _this _why she seemed so stuck on the idea of socializing with me? Because she's been stalking me and wants to make physical contact?

In my mind, an image of me sleeping at night appeared — with the new girl looking into my window as I slept.

It sent unpleasant shivers down my spine.

"Hi Bunny." She said with a smile on her face. I couldn't help myself as I took a step back and away from her.

This new girl frightened me.

"Where've you been? I've been waiting here since, like, school led out." She's been here nearly all afternoon, waiting for me to return… but why? Why would she wait so long for me? What on earth does she possibly want with me?

Moments passed, and there was silence.

She stared at me, and I stared at her. Then she sighed and placed her hands on her hips.

"I see. Still not talking to me, huh? Well that's alright. This doesn't really involve that much talking — especially not on your part. Anyways…" She paused and began to dig inside of her messenger book bag. "I have something for you."

I stayed silent and watched as she began to pull something out of her book bag. My eyes widened when I realized what it was.

"Here you go." She held her hands out for me as she showed me my drawing book. (I completely forgot about it…). "I've been meaning to return it to you. I know that it must mean a lot considering how all the drawings in here are beautiful." I blushed at her compliment. "Want to know my favorite one?" Before I could answer, she flipped through the pages of the book and landed on a landscape-turned picture of five girls.

The girls were characters that I had thought-of, and very young — around four years old, or so. They were all different in their own way, and in my mind, their physical features were proof of that. They had very special hair and eye colors — or at least, that's what I imagine them to have. I'm still not sure on whether that's how I want them to be.

"I think it's fabulous, and really detailed. She's my favorite." She pointed to a girl on the top left that had heart-shaped barrettes in her hair. Her arms were around another girl that had a smirk on her face. The new girl giggled. "I think that, out of all them, she's the most… fashionable. I mean, look at her — she's _adorable_!" It embarrassed me that she was gushing over my drawing. No one had ever done that before. Not even my mother.

The first time I showed her one of my drawings — of a boy that I imagined while it I was sleeping on the first night it snowed — she said she liked it. But she never gave me any more critique, or did what the new girl did.

At one point, after I showed her a few more of my drawings, she even asked me to stop thinking-up of the characters, and places that I've drawn — to stop drawing altogether. She said that it was getting in the way of my schoolwork and that I should focus on my education than drawing.

It surprised me when she said that, and while I loved my mother and did everything that she ever asked me to, I also loved drawing and couldn't find it in my heart to give-it-up.

So instead of stop drawing, I stopped showing her my pictures. I kept them to myself.

The new girl's really the first person in a long time to see them.

"Any who — enough of my fan-girl moment — here you go Bunny." I looked down at my drawing book as she handed it to me. Tentatively I grasped it in my hands, and clutched it to my chest. "I really _love _your drawings, Bunny. I hope that, someday, you'll show me more of them." I didn't respond. Instead I stayed silent and waited for her to leave.

Despite being seemingly nice, the new girl was still a confusing mystery to me, and her presence was unsettling.

"Well, I'm off. My sisters are probably close to chewing my head-off since I'm late. See you at school tomorrow, Bunny." She said. I moved aside when she began to walk down the cemented path. When she was about to touch the horizontal sidewalk, she abruptly stopped and looked back at me.

"Oh! I almost forgot: I fixed it. I'm really sorry for ripping the page, Bunny. I didn't mean to — honest." She gave me a bright smile. "Bye!"

Then she left. I watched as she walked down the street, turned a corner, and waved at me until she was out of my sight. I continue to stand there with my book clutched against my chest, and staring at where she disappeared.

The new girl… she was definitely a strange character. And it seemed that she wanted to socialize with me… After all, why would she do everything that she's done — calling my name, be friendly, and wait at my house to give me back my book — to me, if it were just because she was stalking me?

If that was true, then she would remain silent, and I would probably get a creep-vibe from her. But I don't. Despite my suspicions against her, I didn't get a bad feeling from her. She seemed… friendly and nice — a good person to be friends with.

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I sighed.

To think, all I've wanted is someone's attention and to be someone's friend, and now that someone arrives and seems to want to do just that, I'm against it.

It was definitely irony.

Taking in a deep breath, I quickly got rid of all thoughts of the new girl and went up the path to my house. I placed my book in one arm as I used the other to grab hold of my keys, inside of my pant pockets. Once I had them, I found the one for my house quickly and had the door opened with it, in a matter of seconds.

Going inside my house, I turned on the lights in the hallway, and then closed the door behind me and locked it tightly. I placed my book on the table that was near the door, and then began to take-off my backpack. As usual, I placed it on a hook and put the keys inside.

Then I grabbed my book, turned off the lights, and began to head upstairs. Quickly I glanced at the clock in the kitchen; it was 4:10pm.

I'd been out with Malissa longer than I thought, and my mother should be home by now, if not already on her way.

But a quick scan of the living room and kitchen showed that she wasn't there; that meant that she was close to getting home. With this in mind, I made my way up the stairs and headed to my room. As soon as I was there, I turned-on the lights and closed the door, before heading to my bed and sitting down.

When I sat on my bed, I placed my book on my lap.

The new girl had said that she fixed it. My guess is that she taped back the pieces of my picture.

Opening my book, I quickly flipped back to it — I gasped. My eyes went wide as I looked down at the picture. My mouth was wide open, and shock was swirling in my eyes.

N-no way… how…

My eyes frantically continued to study the paper. I searched for any hint that she had glued, taped, or done something to fix the page. But I didn't see a thing. My paper looked exactly as it had before it was ripped, and there was no evidence of _how _exactly it was that she put it together.

It was flawless.

The broken piece was back in place perfectly, and as I ran my hand over it — lightly so that I wouldn't smudge it in any way — I saw that there was no tear or seem or anything…

It was perfect.

Perplexed, I turned the page over to see if that was where she put it back together. But turning the page revealed nothing but strange black characters printed on the back. My eyebrows furrowed as I looked at the writing; there were a few vertical lines that were made of characters that I hadn't seen before.

What was this?

Was this some type of language?

And if it was, what did it mean?

_Why would she put this on the back of my page? Why would she write it? _

I knew that if I really wanted to know, I would have to ask her. But that would mean talking to her, and at the moment, that was the last thing that I wanted, or could do.

If I tried to talk to her, Malissa would get word of it and punish me. She strictly told me that I was forbidden to try and make friends, to step out of line. She said that I was now and forever her slave — and that I was too pathetic of a person to have friends. (It hurt me to hear that, when she said it).

For everything I did that she didn't like, there was a consequence. I didn't want to figure-out what the consequence for speaking to another person, was…

So I sighed and began to close the book; deciding to forget all about the new girl and everything that happened today.

After all, there was no reason to dwell on the past when the future was more important — I still had to deal with Malissa, tomorrow at school.

But as I was closing it, I saw something shimmer on the repaired page. For a moment, I thought it was just a figment of my imagination, and let it go. And then it happened again. This time I was sure of it. Opening my book to the page once again, I studied the drawing.

The shimmer had come from there; that I'm certain about. Quickly I looked onto my nightstand and found my home case for my glasses. I grabbed it and opened it to grab the small washcloth that was inside it. Once I had it, I took-off my glasses and wiped them. When I had them clean and back on my face, I looked at the page again.

Briefly I ran my hands over it.

It shimmered.

There was a gold vertical path that went across the page. I hadn't just been imagining it. Its shaded pencil color would actually disappear for a few seconds, and turn gold as the shimmer occurred. But why? I doubt that the pencil I use to draw, caused weird color changes at random moments.

There had to be something else that was causing this… w-was it the new girl? Had she done something to my drawing to make this happen?

And suddenly my head started pounding. I flinched and brought my hand up to my head as I felt my brain begin to painfully pulse. I could see the colors again — red, blue, yellow, green, orange, purple and so on, so on. But the color that stood-out the most was yellow.

Like what had happened with the red last month, the yellow color was soon overshadowing all of the other colors, and very quickly it was the only color that I could see.

That was when I heard it. Past the sound of rushing blood in my ears, I heard a whisper.

"_Y—ki…"_

The whisper made no sense. And for a moment I thought that it was another figment of my imagination, until I heard it again.

"_Y—ki… Y—ki…"_

It kept being repeated in my head, and I wanted it to stop. I tried to open my eyes to see what was going on, but I couldn't. Instead, as the whisper grew stronger and stronger, I felt warmth against my skin.

And it wasn't any regular type of warmth that I got from my blanket. It was a different type. My entire body was warm — inside and outside. I felt as if I was securely wrapped in something, and my headache began to dull… And then when all of my body was warm, there was a falling feeling.

I felt my heart sink as my entire mind went white and the falling feeling felt more real. I could even feel wind against my face, and hear the sound of it rushing past my ears. It was when the feeling became too realistic to bear that I opened my eyes. I gasped and couldn't help but scream as I looked at what was ahead of me.

I really _was_ falling!

I was in some sort of white tunnel and was falling towards… somewhere. I couldn't see where. But all I knew was that a gold light was getting closer and closer as I continued to fall.

What… was going on?

I didn't have time to dwell on that too long as I suddenly fell faster than I had been, and the gold light began to cover my body.

I couldn't see a thing.

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><p>End! So what do you think? I know that this is <em>way <em>different from the original third chapter, but I like this better. I've decided on taking things nice and slow — hence why this story will be so freaking long. Anyways, what do you think? I really hope that this was a good chapter; I changed so many things as I wrote it.

Next chapter: What in the world was that glowing light? Where did the all-white tunnel lead to? What's in store for Bunny?

Review please!

Xoxoxo Chibi Star Vamp


	4. Bunny in Ygvarland

Hello, hello. This is the fourth chapter of AP. I gotta say, I really do love this story. And what I have planned is far better, now that my characters are more developed… Anyways, this chapter is going to be mostly all in italics, but it's not a flashback. What is it? You will have to wait and see. The point is: it's the first hint of fantasy and includes a very magical world and some super important characters show-up. I hope you like!

I own _everything _— except the characters from _Lotte no Omocha! _which you will be able to dictate as the chapter progresses.

Chapter title inspired by the book turned movie: Alice in Wonderland. I think it fits.

Enjoy!

P.S. I used Google Translate. If you're a native speaker, please don't get mad at me if anything is wrong — it was out of my hands.

Format for translations: **[…]** *Note, the characters are not speaking the translation.

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><p><span>Animetra Princess<span>

_**Chapter 3: Bunny in Ygvarland**_

***By Chibi Star Vamp***

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><p><em>My fingers twitched.<em>

_It was the first sign that told me that I was, in fact, awake and alive after that terrible fall. Slowly, I began to move my muscles; testing to see if anything was broken — I was incredibly happy to see that nothing seemed to be dislocated or smashed into pieces. I was able to move my joints easily._

_When I knew that I could move, I slowly opened my eyes. I immediately closed them when bright light hit them; I could feel the light against my eyelids._

_A few seconds later, when I went to open my eyes again, I did it more slowly. I blinked several times as I tried to get used to the light, and when it no longer hurt to have my eyes the slightest bit open, I opened them fully. _

_My vision was blurry, and I could barely see a thing, but what I did see was… green._

_The surface I was on was green — no, wait… I moved my hands to feel the surface a little. Its texture was slick, the length was short, and there was a light floral scent in the air that was doused with… water, perhaps. I ran my palm above the land, and came to the conclusion that, not only was I on a green surface, but I was on __grass__._

_I gasped._

_G-grass… w-what was I doing on grass? Just moments ago, I had been in my room, on my bed. And now… now I had fallen down some hole and was on __grass of all things__!_

_Slowly, I placed my hands at my side and pushed myself up. When I added pressure to my wrists, I winced. My right wrist hurt — was it sprained? To check, I balanced my body on my left hand and pushed myself to the side so that I turned on the grass and was on my back._

_I then brought my right arm close to my face, and used my left hand to gently move it around a little. When I did this the first time, and found that there was no pain, I did it again and added more pressure._

_I winced again. _

_It really was broken. I frowned when I came to this conclusion. I must've fallen on it or something… Great. What was I going to do about it? If I was home, I could easily bandage it up and then have my mom take me to the hospital. But here…_

_At that moment I began to look around where I was. My eyes widened when I realized that I was under a tree; and not just any tree, but — judging from the circumference of its bottom, and the size of its trunk — a very, very large tree that seemed to be the color of gold, or a very sunny yellow…_

_I—I had never seen a tree that color before! Briefly I wondered if it was because it was autumn, but… but autumn leaves don't get that way. They don't turn a gold-yellow color, but a mixture of red, brown __and__yellow._

_What… what is this tree?_

_Looking at it more closely, I saw that its leaves weren't like those of regular trees. They were clovers — golden-yellow-colored clovers. My eyes went wide. Its leaves were clovers… I've definitely never seen such a thing. It was… amazing._

_And it only supplied my suspicion that I wasn't home — nowhere near it. And I wanted to know, desperately, where exactly it was that I had been taken to by that… tunnel._

_(That tunnel brought about thousands of questions. But I decided to deal with the mystery one-at-a-time, and shoved all thoughts of the tunnel into the deepest parts of my mind — storing it away until later). _

_Looking around the area more, I noticed the bright blue skies (slowly being tinted with the colors of a sunset) and — a house! I gasped. Far off in the distance, I could see a large structure. No. Two large structures. Once was slim and curved slightly, with a pointed tip heading in the direction of the much larger structure. It held a few windows here and there. _

_The other seemed more like a house._

_It was blockier, and held a unique structure. It held arches, cylinders, different buildings, and so on so forth. It really was an odd structure, but… it was still beautiful, and very massive._

_For a moment I wondered if anyone lived there…_

_But I quickly shook my head and got rid of those thoughts. There was no use in wondering whose residence that was; it wasn't as if they could somehow help me, whoever they were. After all, I had no clue how far that house was, and how to get there. If I tried to make it there, I may — no. I __will__ get lost and then the odds of returning home will lessen._

_So I stayed put. Instead, I studied the area that I was currently at. And that was when I saw it — my book!_

_Shuffling to my feet, I scurried over to my book. Grasping it, I noticed that it was open to the page containing the crescent moon drawing. And not only that, but a little golden clover had landed in the space of the crescent moon between the triangles and the curve of the moon._

_I couldn't help myself as I grabbed onto it. Slowly I lifted it to my eyes, and adjusted my glasses as I turned it around and studied it. It really was a rarely-colored clover…_

"_Ā! Umaku itta! _**[Ah! It worked!]**_" I picked-up the sound of the strange words pretty quickly, and I turned my head in the direction that it came from. My eyes widened when I saw… something, or someone._

_Immediately I placed the clover back in my book and closed it. I held my drawing book close to my chest as I looked at the approaching figures. _

_I stayed silent and still as I observed them; my eyes filling with confusion as I noticed their features._

_They were three females._

_The first female that I spotted had blue hair. I held my breath as I noticed this — I hadn't ever seen someone with hair color like that, before. Her blue hair was a soft bluish color; rich and shiny. It wasn't overall dark, or light, it was just right. And as the sun hit her from the side it looked even prettier. I couldn't determine the length; most of it was hidden. But I could see that her bangs were brushed to the side, and covered her eyebrows. They rested a little above her blue eyes; that were lighter than her hair — sky blue, to be exact._

_She was wearing a simple outfit. She wore a white, short-sleeved dress. The sleeves of the dress were a little puffy, but not overall, just slightly. They rested nicely on her arms, and there were small, green-colored jewels placed on the borders._

_The top half of the dress was simple. There was some ruffled embroidery that formed a v-neck shape coming down from the neckline of the dress. In between this area was green-colored fabric that matched the jewels. It looked so much like silk; soft and smooth and expensive… The neckline went down to a strap that was wrapped around her waist. It was a dark-green color. Placed on the sash was a bejeweled object. It was a large heart that held various blue-colored jewels decorating it._

_The skirt of her dress was a little puffy, and held embroidery on the bottom of it, done in green. And on her legs were simple white shoes — no design on them whatsoever. However, over the dress she wore a white lab coat; this was weird. Why was she wearing a lab-coat?_

_But then again, I guess pretty girls can wear __anything__ and __still __look amazing…_

_She really was pretty girl. She had pale skin and her eyes stood-out on them. She also had pink lips, and didn't seem to be wearing any makeup. I could see that she was wearing earrings. They looked like… bluish-green-colored diamond hearts. Around her neck was a necklace with a silver-colored chain, and a large blue stone at the end. Around her wrist was a black-colored watch._

_Next to her was a blonde girl. And while her hair color was… normal, she was by no-means less… interesting. _

_She had soft-yellow colored hair. It was a mixture of different shades of yellow that blended in with it nicely — perfectly. In it were black and purple highlights that were placed here-and-there (what an odd, and yet nice, combination). Her blonde bangs were pulled back and pinned to the top of her head, and her hair fell down in silky and curly waves down to her thighs. _

_She also had uniquely-colored eyes. They were the very color of sunshine; and were warm and beautiful. They seemed to be enhanced by the smile on her face, without the need of anything like mascara. She also didn't seem to be wearing any makeup — a natural beauty. Her skin was a soft pale color, and flawless._

I couldn't help but envy her because of that.

_What she was wearing made her more beautiful. She was wearing a purple-colored dress. It was vibrant and… loud. The straps of the dress were thin, and hanging on her arms. The top seemed like simple fabric below a dazzling black corset. The skirt of the dress was large and puffy. It went down to her knees, and was ruffled and held layers of white underneath it. It vaguely reminded me of an old-style gown. And she paired it with a pair of black boots. The heels were high, and the boot reached about half-an-inch below her knees, and held laces at the front._

_It had to be one of the most extravagant outfits that I had ever seen. And this girl… she was so young. Should she really be wearing clothes like that?_

_She also wore jewelry. Resting on her unhidden neck was a simple necklace. The chain of the necklace was gold, thin, and small — a little like a golden string. Hanging from it was a single white pearl. On her wrist was a large heart-shaped, bejeweled object. It seemed to be the same thing that the blue-haired girl wore on her belt, except the jewels on it were different shades of yellow, and not blue._

_The final girl was a little smaller than the other two. She also had long blonde hair that turned a darker shade in the shadows. It reached down to her waist, and she had two parts of it in ponytails, and the rest flowing naturally; the ponytails tied with red ribbons. But what was odd about her hair was that, at the side, two long strands didn't fall flat against the rest of her hair. Rather, they went out and formed into bumps — one large, the other small. This formed on both sides of her hair; coming from her ponytails. Her bangs were parted in the center of her head, and stopped a little before her large… strange green eyes. Coming from the top of her head was a strand of hair that curved to the right. From the side of her head, stuck out… pointed ears._

_This surprised me at lot. The other two girls had normal ears, but she… her ears were a little pointed at the ends…_

_Her outfit was strange, and seemed a little too mature for her…_

_Around her neck was a collar. But that was it: a white collar that was held to her flesh by a small black tie with a little white heart at the end of the tie. The tie touched the rest of her clothing; a bright yellow bow that was on top of what I assumed was her shirt._

_The yellow bow rested on a rectangle-shaped blue piece of cloth. From the center of the bow and leading down to a little past her belly button was a slit. The slit was bordered by yellow, and got a little wider as it got close to her belly button. There, her naval was shown in the upside-down heart-shaped gap in her clothing that the slit formed. (All of it bordered by yellow)._

_The rectangle-shaped cloth was held to her body by a strap that was placed under her arms. It had a black horizontal stripe beneath a white horizontal stripe, and probably wrapped around her back._

_This same strap appeared as a border on the bottom half of her clothing. I couldn't see much of it, because the strap led to a pair of pink hearts that were placed at her sides, and cut them off. Beneath the two pink hearts were slits that revealed the single white layer that was underneath the blue skirt of her… dress(?). _

_On her thighs were thigh-high white socks. At the top of her socks was a single pink heart with a blue-colored bow underneath it; the heart being at the center of the bow. And on her feet were black shoes._

_But what really surprised me about her was the tail that she had. Yes — a tail. There was a soft pink-colored tail showing from behind her that held a spade at the end, for its tip. My eyes focused intently on it as it moved back and forth a little; the sunlight shining off of it._

This girl had pointed ears and a tail… how?

_My eyes stayed focused on all three of them as they continued to get closer to me. _

_They stopped a couple feet away from me. I felt very nervous as they looked down at me; they seemed to be studying me… I clutched my book more tightly to my chest; wanting to hide so that they wouldn't be able to stare at me._

"_Ē to, Tenako... Anata wa kanojo ga 1da to kakushin shitemasu ka? _**[Um, Tenako… are you sure she's the one?]**_" I heard the blue one say as she looked at the largest blonde girl. The blonde girl nodded her head._

"_Un! Sore wa, Ano kanojodesu. _**[Yep! That's her, Ano.]**_" The tall blonde responded to the blue one. "Kanojo no namae no Banī, watashi wa kanojo wa watashitachi ga sagashite ita monoda to kakushin shite iru. _**[Her name's Bunny, and I'm certain that she's the one we've been looking for.]**_" She responded. _

_The blue girl turned her head to look at me. But she wasn't the next one to speak; instead it was the small blonde._

"_Fumu... Kanojo wa kanojo no yō ni nani mo mienai... _**[Hm… She doesn't look anything like her.]**_" She said. _

_The blue girl nodded. "Watashi wa dōi shimasu. Tabun kanojo wa machigatta monodashi, Tenako, misu o okashita? _**[I agree. Perhaps she's the wrong one, and you made a mistake, Tenako?]**_" She said. The tall blonde shook her head._

"_Watashi wa shimasendeshita — watashi wa chikau! Kanojo wa watashitachi ga sagashite ita monoda. Watashi ga misu o shinakatta koto o o yakusoku shimasu. _**[I didn't — I swear! She's the one that we've been looking for. I promise you that I didn't make a mistake.]**_" She stated. She seemed… upset, and perhaps angry…? What was going on? What were they talking about?_

"_Dono yō ni shite yoroshīdesu ka? _**[How are you sure?]**_" Said the short blonde as she looked-up at the older, blonde, female._

"_Watashi o shin'yō shi nasai. Te kudasai. Watashinojinsei ni — watashi wa kanojo ga watashitachi no ōjoda to iu koto o chikau! Chōdo... Anata wa, kanojo ga tadashī monoda to anata jishin no tame ni miru koto ga dekiru yō ni no ga Rotte-hime-chan no shiro ni modotte kanojo o tsurete mimashou. _**[Trust me. Please. I swear that she's our princess — on my life! Just... let's bring her back to Lotte-hime-chan's castle so that you can see for yourself that she's the right one.]**_" I remained silent as they went silent as well. They seemed to be… maybe… thinking about something. But about what — and did it have anything to do with me?_

_Probably._

_After all, I was the one that felt out-of-place. These girls all held strange appearances, and I'm certain that I'm not where I should be — the gold-yellow-colored tree was proof of that._

_And that made the situation even more unnerving to me. I was far away from home… without the safety and supervision of my mother… what was I going to do? How was I going to return the comfort of my bed and see the loving face of my mom, ever again?_

_The very idea that I would never get to see my mother, made my heart ache. Briefly I spotted the large structures, from the corner of my eyes… _

I really was far away from home… how was I going to go back?

"_Fain. Watashitachiha-jō ni kanojo o torimodosudarou — sore wa, anata de ī nodeareba, Asutarotte ōjo o._** [Fine. We'll take her back to the castle — if that's okay with you, Princess Astarotte.]**_" The voice made me turn my attention back to the girls, and I saw the blue-girl finish speaking. The littlest one then turned her head to look at me, and I felt shivers run down my spine as she narrowed her eyes at me — scrutinizing me._

_She raised her head to look at the tall blonde. _

"_Anata wa kanojo ga hitotsuda to omotte imasu ka? _**[Are you sure that she's the one?]**_" She said to the taller blonde. As a response, the blonde vigorously nodded her head. The smaller blonde sighed. "Fain. Sore wa watashitoisshoni daijōbudesu — anata wa, kanojo ga 1dato hyaku pāsento kakushin shite iru baai. Kanojo ga inai baai wa, saigo ni, sore wa anata no atama, Tenako-jōdesu. _**[Fine. It's okay with me — if you're one hundred percent sure that she's the one. And in the end, if she isn't, it's on your head, Tenako.]**_"_

_I watched, silently, as the older blonde nodded her head once again and then began to approach me. I flinched when she knelt down near me, and then held out her hand._

_I looked down at it, and then up at her. But I didn't make any movements. I just continued to stare at her hand._

_At one point, she tilted her head to the side. I… guess that she's confused as to why I'm not taking her gesture. I know what she wants: me to grab onto her hand. But the thing was, if I did so, where would I go? Where would she take me? _

_This strange-talking girl, while she didn't seem to be a bad person, I knew nothing about her, and my mother had taught me to not go anywhere with strangers — and she is __definitely__ a stranger. And the fact that it doesn't seem like we can communicate with each other made me more hesitant to follow her._

"_Banī ni kuru. Anata wa nani o matte iru?_**[Come on Bunny. What are you waiting for?]**_" I raised an eyebrow at her; confusion swimming in my eyes. What… language is she speaking? What is she saying?_

"_E-e-e-excuse m-m-me-e-e?" I asked; the first words I spoke to this girl._

"_Sā! Sā!_** [Come on! Come on!]**_" She still confused me. It seemed as if she was excited about something, but… I just didn't know what she was saying. The situation was getting worse with each sentence — or at least I think they're sentences — that she spoke. _

"_W-w-w-what?" I asked. "I—I'm s-sorry. I d-don't unders-s-tand…" I said to her. Looking into her eyes, I could see them grow sad as I said this._

_It seemed that, while I didn't understand her, she understood me._

"_Tenako nē! Nani ga kon'nani jikan ga kakaru nodesu ka?_** [Hey Tenako! What's taking so long?]**_" I looked behind her at the blue girl as she approached; the smaller blonde girl behind her. _

"_Kanojo wa watashi o rikai shite imasen._** [She doesn't understand me.]**_" The girl said to them._

"_Naruhodo... Tabun, anata wa kanojo no ikutsu ka no ta no hōhō to tsūshin suru koto ga dekimasu ka? Tabun... Shuwa tabun? Kanojo wa sore o shitte imasu ka?_** [I see… Maybe you can communicate with her some other way? Perhaps… sign-language maybe? Does she know that?]**_" Replied the blue girl._

"_Watashi wa shiranaiga... Watashi ga tameshite mimasu..._** [I don't know, but… I'll try…]**_" The older blonde then turned back to me. There was a nervous expression on her face, and she sighed before starting to do something._

_She began to move her hands around. The movements were fluent, and with each motion she would move her fingers around as well to form different symbols. I recognized it as sign-language. But that problem was that I didn't __understand_ _sign-language. I once had the opportunity to take a class on it, but, I couldn't do it because it was after-school and I'm not allowed to do after-school activities._

"_I-I'm sorry… I d-don't k-kn-know sign-l-language." I said to her. I felt a little bad for her when she sighed; I really should have taken that class on sign-language…_

_For the next few moments, she talked with her companions once again, and when she finished, the blue girl got closer. When she was bent down near me, the blue girl held up three fingers. I nodded my head; telling her that I understood._

_Charades. _

_She held up the first finger._

"_O-okay… f-first-t word…" I said._

_She placed two fingers on her lap, and began to move them. I nodded my head. "W-walk." Looking up at her, she nodded her head while tapping her nose. Then she held up two fingers, and then three fingers. "S-second-d word… and… t-third word…" I said. She nodded._

_Then I watched as she wrapped an arm around the older blonde's shoulder and brought her closer to herself. She then used her free hand to point at the two of them._

"_Y-you two…" I said. She shook her head. Then she used her finger to draw in the air. She made a curve that kinda mimicked a U-shape. "Uh…" I said. She tapped her nose again. This confused me. "Uh… i-is that the w-word, 'Uh'?" She shook her head._

"_W-well then w-what is i-it?" I flinched when she grasped my hand, and used it to draw in the air. I studied the shapes that she continued to form._

_She made the curve again, and then a shape that involved two horizontal curves, one on top of the other, and their bumps on opposite sides. She repeated it over and over again. Eventually, I decided that, maybe, they were letters. And they looked for very similar — if not were — to the letters "'U' a-and 'S'." I said. "'Us'… I-is that the w-word-d? 'Us'?" I asked her._

_She released my hand and tapped her nose._

"_Walk… u-us… w-walk… us… W-walk with u-us?" I asked. She nodded her head, smiling brightly while the blonde girl clapped her hands together. I blushed at the fact that they seemed so happy that I finally managed to understand them. But in all honesty, I was glad as well. It made the situation a tiny particle less confusing._

_Once again, the blonde girl held out her hand for me. I looked at it nervously, chewing on my bottom lip. I now had no reason to not grasp it. Communication had been established, and I understand what they want me to do._

_To walk with them._

_But the fact still remained that I didn't know who they were, what they were, where I was, what was going on, and so many more questions. I needed answers._

Although… how am I going to get answers if I don't cooperate? If I keep stalling, I'll waste more and more time…

_I sighed._

_Slowly, I raised my good hand, and moved it towards her; while holding my book with my broken hand. Her skin was warm and soft and smooth. She grasped onto my hand lightly, and when I looked at her, I was met with a smile. I could feel myself blush; why was she so happy?_

"_Yoshi! No wa, Rotte-hime-chan no shiro ni ikou!_** [Alright! Let's go to Lotte-hime-chan's castle!]**_" Her exclamation made me nervous, but I didn't make any attempts to remove my hand from hers due to her outburst. Instead, she quickly helped me to stand, and I walked with her and her companions as they began to lead me around the tree._

_Since the trunk of the tree was very thick, it took a while to get to the other side. But once we did, I couldn't help my reaction as my eyes went wide with shock._

_Leading down from the tree and going down the hill that I was on top of, was a path. I knew that it was there because it was a different color than the grass. But that was not what surprised me. What surprised me was the large object that was placed on the top, near the tree trunk._

_I couldn't see much of it, at first, but as I got closer and closer to it, its features became more visible to me. And it absolutely left me breathless when I realized that it was a carriage. A beautiful, beautiful burgundy-colored, rectangle-shaped and elegantly decorated carriage that reminded me so much of the one Cinderella rode to the ball, in; it was even drawn by horses — four perfect, white-colored horses attached to golden reigns._

_It was amazing, and seemed to be right out of a fairytale book. _

_I was still breathless and my eyes took in each and every one of its visible features as I got closer to it. The four circular wheels that helped it to move were large and of a golden-honey color. The decorations were shiny and varied from golden-colored vines to flower designs. There was a single door facing me, and the knob of it was silver-colored; it also held a window that was covered by something gray._

_I felt nervous butterflies grow in my stomach when I finally approached the carriage, and stood about three or so feet away from it. The blue-haired girl grabbed onto the silver knob, twisted it, and opened the door and held it open._

_Inside the carriage, it was painted a soft cream-color, and I could see old-style lamps hung on the walls; they were lit with fire. Also, there were two honey-colored couches inside that were facing each other and on opposite horizontal sides of the carriage — another door between them on the wall opposite to where I currently stood._

_I watched as the smallest girl entered it; holding onto the side of the entrance, and using the steps to get inside. She took a seat on the couch facing away from the horses, and crossed her arms; she didn't seem happy about something._

_I began to walk closer to the carriage when I felt the female tug on my hand. When I was near the steps, she let go of my hand, and I looked at her; she gestured me to go inside the carriage._

_With slight hesitancy after glancing at the seemingly-unhappy female's expression that was inside the carriage, I nodded my head and placed my book on the couch to the left, and then grasped onto the sides of the entrance. Even though I was trying really hard to not add too much pressure to my broken wrist, I ended-up doing so anyways, and almost fell when I let go of the sides of the carriage's doorframe._

"_E ~e~tsu! Anata wa daijōbudesuka? !_** [Oh my god! Are you alright?!]**_" The blonde-haired girl exclaimed behind me. I could feel pressure on my back, and was grateful that she was nice enough to help me._

_Slowly she led me down from the steps, and I immediately grasped my broken wrist with my left hand. Twisting it a little, I winced — it hurt more than before._

"_Dō na~tsu teru no?_** [What's going on?]**_" I heard, and looked-up to see the blue-haired girl with a worried and curious expression on her face._

"_Watashi wa shiranai - kanojo wa chōdo hotondo ochita._** [I don't know — she just almost fell…]**_" The blonde-haired girl responded. She looked at me with a worried look in her own eyes. Why were both of them worried about me so much? Yes I almost fell but… but it's no reason to be so concerned. Doesn't everyone fall every now and then?_

"_Fumu… _**[Hm…]**_" Sounded the blue-haired one. Her eyes shifted as they looked at me, and then they landed a little to the bottom. I followed the gaze with my eyes, and saw that she was staring at me wrist. "Watashi wa shibarakunoaida, anata no tefuda o miru koto ga dekimasu, shite kudasai?_**[Can I see your hand for a moment, please?]**_" She said to me as she held out her hand. She didn't have to use charades to tell me what she wanted. _

_Tentatively, I placed my right hand in her right hand, and she held onto it gently. She rubbed her thumb over my fingers, and then over my wrist. After a while, she began to move my wrist gently front and back — I winced._

"_Watashi wa kanojo no tekubi o nenza shite iru to omou..._** [I think her wrist is sprained…]**_" She said. The blonde girl got closer to the blue one, and looked down at my hand._

"_Majide?_** [Really?]**_" She said; sounding surprised and still worried._

_But instead of answering immediately like I suspected that she would, the blue girl paused for a few moments. I watched as she used her free hand to grab onto the large heart-shaped object around her waist, and pull it off. Then she did something and it flipped open like a cell-phone. I was really surprised when she did this — I thought it was just a decorative piece of jewelry or something; not a cell-phone-like accessory._

_There was movement as she did something behind it, and even a few sounds every now and then — was it more like a cell-phone than I thought? Then the jewel in the very center of the top — a blue heart-shaped jewel — began to glow green._

_I flinched when something came out of it that formed green grid-lines on my hand. I was scared about what it was doing to me, but calmed down when I saw that all the lines did were move up and down on my wrist. Then they formed a single dot, and the green gem returned to blue._

What just happened?

_There was a beeping noise._

"_Yappari ne. Jintai ni keibina sonshō to itami: Kanojo wa gurēdo 1 tekubi no nenza o motte imasu._** [I knew it. She has a Grade 1 wrist sprain: pain with minor damage to the ligament.]**_" She stated. The blonde gasped. What was going on? Why was she so surprised?_

"_Sore wa dono yō ni okotta nodarou ka? Kanojo wa yo, Ano daijōbu-sa?_** [How could that have happened? Is she gonna be okay, Ano?]**_" The blonde girl said to the blue girl._

"_Tabun, kanojo wa koko ni motte ko rareta toki - rei to shite, izen no inshidento o shiyō shite, watashi wa kanojo wa aki ni sore o nenza shite iru koto to shinjite imasu. Shikashi, kanojo wa daijōbudayo, shinpaishinaide kudasai. Watashi wa kanojo no iyashino purosesu o watashitachi no gijutsu o suru tame no supīdoappu o shiyō suru koto wa dekimasenga, watashi wa kanojo no baai ni wa, kaifuku no 3 __〜__4-shūkan o mitsumoru koto ga dekimasu. Shikashi, sore wa zan'nen'na kotoda. Watashitachiha-ka ni modotta baai, watashi wa sokuza ni sore o iyasu koto ga dekimashita... _**[Using previous incidents as examples, I believe that she sprained it during a fall — perhaps when she was brought here. But don't worry, she'll be fine. While I can't use our technology to speed-up her healing process, I can estimate three-to-four weeks of recovering, in her case. It's a shame, though. If we were back home, I could heal it instantly…]**_" She sighed and closed the heart-shaped object before placing it back around her waist. "Shikashi, sukunakutomo, kanojo no kega wa hijō ni shinkokude wa arimasen. Wareware wa ōjo asutarotte no shiro ni modotta toki ni, watashi wa kantan ni kanojo no tame ni, sono hōtai o motsu koto ga deki, iyashino purosesu o kaishi suru - , genkyū mo jinsoku kenshin o okonai, anata no utagai o kakunin suru ka, hanron suru tame ni ikutsu ka no ketsueki o toru kotode wanai._** [However, at least her injury isn't very serious. When we return to Princess Astarotte's castle, I can easily have that bandaged for her, and start the healing process — not to mention, also perform a quick health examination and take some blood to affirm or refute your suspicion.]**_"_

_The blonde girl rolled her eyes._

"_Anata wa mada watashi o shinjite inai. Ano ne e, watashi ichido no shibaraku sukoshi shinkō o motte iru._** [You still don't believe me. Geez Ano, have a little faith in my once-in-a-while.]**_" She stated. She looked and sounded annoyed. The blue-haired girl sighed; rolling her eyes._

"_Sore wa, watashi wa anata o shinjite inai to iu wakede wanai. Sore wa sudeni 10 tsukida to iu kotoda to wareware wa ima made ijō ni jikan ni owa rete iru, to watashi wa kono on'nanoko ni sore o muda ni suru koto wa dekimasen._** [It's not that I don't believe you. It's that it's already October and we're pressed for time now more than ever, and I can't waste it on this girl.]**_" She responded. There was serious look on her face as she released my hand. I stared at her face… what was going on?_

"_Wareware wa jikan o muda ni sa reru koto wa arimasen... Watashi wa anata o yakusoku..._** [We won't be wasting time… I promise you…]**_" The blonde-haired girl said to the blue-haired girl. The blue-haired girl didn't respond._

_Instead, she gestured to the inside of the carriage. I was hesitant as I looked inside the carriage. A few seconds ago, I'd almost fallen off of the carriage because of my wrist; the last thing I wanted right now was to almost fall, again. Who knows whether I'll get as lucky as last time, and they'll be able to catch me again? What if, this time, I fall and hurt myself __worse__?!_

_The girls seemed to notice my nervousness because, while the blue-haired one gestured towards the door, the blonde-haired girl began to push me towards the steps._

_When I had one of my feet on the first step, she had her hands on my lower back and was lifting me forward. I could feel another set of hands on my upper back, and was grateful that they were both helping me get inside the carriage — although I was upset that I was being such a burden on them._

_I was able to get inside the carriage with their help, and wasted no time in sitting on the unoccupied couch, and placing my hands on my lap, on top of my book, and beginning to fiddle with my fingers as I felt my nervousness creep-up on me; after thanking the two girls for helping me — they responded with a nod._

_I could feel the little girl staring me; her gaze hard and unnerving._

_I felt very anxious to get out of the carriage as soon as possible. That didn't seem like it would happen within the next couple minutes because, after I got inside, the door was closed, and there was momentary silence. During this silence, I felt the tension in the tiny space grow, as well as the heat from the lamps. I gulped down my saliva; a nervous knot having already formed in my throat._

_Glancing up at the little girl opposite me, I jumped under my skin when I noticed that her frown had deepened, and that her eyes were now narrowed at me._

_I quickly looked away._

Her eyes were scary…

_Finally after what seemed like forever in that tiny space, the carriage began to move. At first I heard the neigh of horses, and then it abruptly jerked (I almost fell forward, but managed to compose myself quickly — I didn't want her to look any more wrongly at me), and soon it was moving smoothly._

_I wondered (after it was too late to refuse to go into the carriage and follow these females) where they were taking me._

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><p><em>.<em>

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><p><em>The carriage ride seemed to last forever.<em>

_Wherever it was that they decided to take me, it was definitely a long distance away from the tree that I had been under. I had no clue how long the carriage ride lasted, but I could only assume that it had taken about a half-hour to an hour or so to arrive at the unknown-to-me destination._

_When the carriage stopped, I heard nothing. Briefly, there was the sound of moving, and then everything went silent for a few seconds. A while later, the door to my right opened, and I flinched at the small creak that it made._

_I looked-up to see the face of the blonde female, and she glanced at both me and the girl. I felt a bit nervous when she gave me a smile, and then switched her gaze to the little girl, and said something to her. "Koko ni where āru no shukuyakukei. Asuha-chan Touhara-san wa, Rotte-hime-chan o mukaeru tame ni koko ni iru._** [Where're here. Asuha-chan and Touhara-san are here to greet you, Lotte-hime-chan.]**_" At the female's words, I watched as the little girl frowned; her eyes widened for a moment, before she sighed._

"_Karera wa matte ittai nani de mata __〜__na no ka... ?_**[Why'd they wait…?]**_" She paused and heaved a sigh before speaking again. __"Hijō ni yoku. Watashi wa ima, sorera o mi ni iku yo._**[Very well. I'll go see them, now.]**_" I stayed silent as I watched the female begin to get out of the carriage. The older blonde helped her out of it, and once the younger girl was on the ground and headed in the path to the front of the carriage, the girl looked at me, and held out her hand._

_Immediately knowing what she wanted me to do, I grasped her warm hand and accepted her help in getting out of the carriage; my book in my free, broken hand. I was glad that I had accepted it, too. Given what happened earlier, I didn't want a repeat._

"_T-t-t-thank-k you…" I said softly when my feet were finally firmly planted on the ground._

"_Dō itashimashite._** [You're welcome.]**_" Even though I didn't know what language she was speaking, I had a feeling that what she said was the reply for thanking her — so I accepted it. _

_She briefly let go of my hand to close the carriage door, and then she grasped it again, gently, and began to lead me to the front of the carriage. It was as I passed it, I realized that the horses that had once been there, were gone. I wonder how they were removed without making a sound?_

_I quickly switched my attention from the missing mammals, to the light up ahead. I noticed that, in front of us, there was a large wooden door that was pointed at the top, a little inside of a white wall. Above the door was a light that illuminated it._

_I realized that we had arrived at some sort of building, and looked-up to see what it was like. _

_My breath, once again, caught in my throat._

_It was a mansion! _

_There was no doubt about it. It was a very large, elegant-looking building that glowed in the light of the fading sun. I could see that it held many windows to the left of me, and there were bushes placed at the bottom of the wall that seemed to be trimmed to perfection, and very healthy. I couldn't see much of the mansion, but its size was not lost on me. It was as glorious as the carriage that had brought me there._

Scrutinizing it, I realized that it was the very building that I had seen earlier. It was more glorious up close, than far away…

_I walked up the few small steps that were placed before the front door, and the girl used her free hand to push it open. Inside was more glorious than the outside — but of course, it was to be expected. _

_The entire room seemed to be bathed in whitish gold light, and there was a long vertical rug that led to a large staircase. I quickly noticed that, standing a length away from where I was currently positioned, the little girl who had ridden inside of the carriage with me, was standing and talking to two other people. _

_The first was another little girl. She had short, dark-blue-colored hair that touched her shoulders at the end, and covered her ears. Her bangs were short and went down to her large blue eyes that seemed to be the same color of her hair. There were two orange-colored ribbons tied into bows at the side of her hair, and a thin layer of hair stuck out from them; curving until the tips were pointed downward. _

_The clothes that she was wearing were very simple. She wore a smooth, thin-strapped pink dress that went down past her knees. A few inches or so above the border of her skirt, there was a single white stripe that circled the dress. She also wore white socks, and soft-green-colored shoes that were like slippers, and covered her toes and didn't need to be tied._

_The second person, I noticed, was a boy that looked around my age — overall, in his teens. He had blue hair just like the girl; that reached his ears and flared out near the end. He also had the same blue eyes, and skin color as her. He was wearing a long-sleeved white dress shirt, along with a green tie; a green ribbon with a gold pendant placed where the strap crisscrossed itself. On top of the shirt, and resting on his torso was a v-neck black vest. The vest had three gold-colored buttons on it and matched perfectly in color with his slacks. He also wore black shoes that shined._

_My eyes stayed on them for a few moments, before they turned to look in front of me. The two girls were leading me away from the group of people, and to a hallway at the side. There were lights on the side of the walls that made it easy to see, and the hallway was long and vacant — except for us three._

_It intimidated me._

_I didn't know where I was headed, or why I was being taken there. I was literally putting my trust in these two strange females considering how, up to now, they've done nothing but help me and have been nice to me._

_But I know from personal experience that I shouldn't fully trust anybody. No matter how nice they are to me — because it could just be a trick, and I may — __will_ _— end up getting hurt._

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><p><em>They had taken me to a strange room. It seemed homey with its cream and light-pink colors, while at the same time it was clear that it was a medical facility since there were machines that I easily recognized from where my mom works, and I recognized the smell of medicine in the air — although most of it I couldn't identify; they smelled odd.<em>

_After entering the room, the blonde girl had me sit on a plush bed with a quilted red and pink comforter, while the blue-haired girl went across the room and began to search through the coffee-wood cupboards that were there — which she was currently doing._

_She pulled out a few things that I barely got a glimpse of, before closing the cupboards and searching for something in the bottom drawers._

_During this time, I felt very awkward and nervous. Despite having always visited the hospital to go see my mom, I was never comfortable in them. Despite there always being a lot of people, hospitals never did look friendly to me. In a way, unless you personally knew the staff, they wouldn't exactly treat you like a family member. Overall, you were just another patient — another sick person that they had to deal with._

_Then there was the fact that these two girls were complete strangers to me. I didn't know their names, and I couldn't communicate with them easily. I was as blind as a bat when it came to my situation, and I wanted nothing more than to go home and be in an environment where I felt safe._

"_Ano, anata wa isoide kudasai dekimasu ka? Kore wa towa ni totte iru._** [Ano, can you please hurry up? This is taking forever.]**_" The blonde girl said._

"_Tenako, kanja ga arimasu. Watashi wa sore wa fuanteina dōi-tai to natte, kanojo o korosu wakede wanai koto o kakunin suru hitsuyō ga arimasu._** [Be patient, Tenako. I have to make sure that it doesn't become an unstable isotope and kill her.]**_" The blue-haired girl replied. In response, the blonde-girl sighed and leaned back against the chair that she was seated on._

_However, she still remained her perfect posture. One of her legs was crossed above the other, her hands were on her lap, and she sat so… perfectly that she looked like… well… a princess._

_A few seconds later, the blue-haired girl turned around and there was a metal tray in her hand. On it were gauze, scissors, clips, a strange cylinder white-colored tube, and… needles! It was then that I became fully afraid of the situation, and _knew _that I had to get out of there. _

_I wasn't about to let her inject me with some strange fluid. __Who knows what it could do to me__?! I could possibly die from it._

_But what would I do once I was out of their reach? And how was I certain that I would be able to get away from them, anyway? After all, I don't know anything about their skill, or this area. If I ran, I'd most likely get lost and they'd find me._

And then what?

_So even though I was incredibly frightened about what was going on, I knew better than to run. All I could do was resist. But even that I knew wouldn't be very successful… I was afraid of what they might do if I resisted. _

_But I had to think of something to do, and quickly. After all, the blue-haired girl already had everything set on a table next to the bed. I watched as she put on a pair of gloves, and then grabbed onto the white cylinder-shaped object. She placed her finger on the bottom of it, and the top part grew longer, and a green stripe appeared where it extended._

_I looked at it strangely. What was that thing? What did it do?_

_I flinched when she got closer to me, and then placed the top of the tube, on the left side of my neck._

_What was she—_

_There was pain, and then I blacked-out._

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><p>End! I hope that you all liked this chapter, and I'm sorry for being a tease. Sadly, she won't exactly learn of who those two girls were, just yet. I'm planning to take this nice and slow. But I do hope that you liked this chapter, and managed to determine which characters were my own, and which ones belonged to the anime <em>Lotte no Omocha!<em>

Next chapter: The aftermath. What happened after her trip, and how has Bunny reacted to it?

Please review!

Xoxoxo Chibi Star Vamp


	5. Sick

Hello all. This chapter isn't that exciting, but, like every other chapter, it is important because I consider it a transition between the average, and the magical. Last chapter included Bunny going somewhere — but was it real, or a dream? That will be decided, eventually. I was debating on whether to let her stay there longer, or immediately bring her back to her world, but hopefully this will be to both your liking.

I own _everything_!

Enjoy!

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><p>.<p>

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><p><span>Animetra Princess<span>

_**Chapter 4: Sick**_

***By Chibi Star Vamp***

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><p>When I woke-up, I was on my bedroom floor.<p>

I was in pain. My entire body felt as if someone large — heavy, obese — landed on it and continued to strike me down with something that was equally heavy, or more. My neck was burning; the type of burn that I've seen people experience in documentaries, where they were bitten by a snake. Or as if a hot metal plate had been placed on my neck, and now the flesh was beginning to singe and cause pain to erupt.

It wasn't a good feeling, and tears slowly began to spill from my eyes as my nervous system was assaulted with these awful feelings.

I reached-out with my fingers for something; anything that could help me. What exactly, I wasn't sure. But I knew that I needed to find something to communicate with. The cord to the phone in my room should be close. If I was truly on my floor, then I must've fallen off the right side of my bed, and the cord should be somewhere… If I managed to get to it, I could dial 911 and get the authorities here.

_Then, they could take me to the hospital and I would be able to see my mom._

But it seemed as if I was too far to get to it. No matter how much I reached-out with my hand, I couldn't find it. And it was only then that I remembered that I had moved the cord so that I would no longer trip over it, like I used to.

I wanted to hit myself for being such an idiot. But at the same time, how was I supposed to know that something like this would happen? How could I have possibly seen that I'd end-up in this situation? I couldn't have, and therefore I had no reason to hate myself.

Yet, I unconsciously placed all the blame of this inevitable situation, on myself. It was something I often did; whether I was directly involved in the situation or not. It was somewhat programmed into me…

But that didn't help the current situation. The pain was getting worse, and I _wished_ that I had continued to sleep instead of waking-up. Then, I wouldn't be in this pain; I'd be in an oblivious sleep. A painless, sweet oblivious sleep where I could dream that anything but _this_ was happening.

The tears were falling faster, and I wanted to scream-out for my mom. However, the burning sensation in my throat made it difficult to open my mouth and let out a huff of air, nevertheless a scream.

It was then that I began to wonder what would happen next.

Would my mom come home soon and find me? Or would she be stuck at work all night long and not come back until it was too late? Maybe I'd be able to scream, at one point, and could grasp a neighbor's attention? Then again, the walls of the house were pretty thick and it would be difficult to make a scream loud enough for others to hear…

_It seemed like everything that could lead to my rescue, would be impossible to happen._

And as this thought started to engrave itself into my mind, the tears fell faster and faster. Soon, I was breaking down on the floor of my bedroom and was convinced that I wouldn't make it. I could swear that I felt something dripping from my neck, and began to assume that I would die of blood-loss.

But then—

"Bunny!"

—I heard my mom's voice and flinched when the lights of my room were turned-on. I was momentarily blinded by them (they seemed brighter than ever before, to me), but could easily hear and feel my mom coming over to me. It wasn't long before she was grasping onto my forearms, and began to move me.

"What happened?" She asked. I could tell that she was scared. Not because of the look in her blue eyes, but because of the fact that she was speaking English. My mom only ever spoke English and not Spanglish to me when she was afraid that something would get lost in translation; when it couldn't be registered in her mind that I understood Spanish, too. After all, I looked more Caucasian than I did Hispanic.

I wanted to speak to her, and tell her that I was in immense pain, but it was no use. My voice was lost.

"It's okay sweetie." My mom said. "Momma's here. Don't worry, I'll make sure that everything's alright." She said to me softly. It made me cry; that she was being so strong, while in her eyes, I could see that she wanted to cry, as well. I was scared, and so was she. But that was the thing about my mom — she never displayed any weakness.

_She waited until you couldn't see her, to cry…_

She gathered me in her arms, and then surprisingly lifted me from the floor. I looked at her shocked, wide-eyed. I never knew that she was so strong.

She placed me on my bed, and then pulled her hair back with one of the bands on her wrist, as she surely got ready to search for any injuries. When her beautiful hair was pulled-back with a rubber bracelet, she took-off all of the jewelry on her hands before she began to undress me.

"Where does it hurt?" She asked.

I fought through the pain in my neck. I had to communicate. "A-a-a-alll… o-b-b-errrr." I managed to say. I flinched when she began to lift my school sweater vest. My arms hurt as they moved; and as the vest went over my neck and forced my head to move, my eyes widened and I gasped.

"Oh! Sorry sweetie." She said.

(That was another way I knew that she was afraid. She kept calling me _sweetie_, as if she wanted to soothe my pain through her words. It was awfully sweet, and I wanted to hug her for trying to make this scary situation better, but… I was immobile).

"I promise not to make it any worse. I'll be extremely careful from now on…" She said softly. As she began to unbutton my school dress shirt, I couldn't help but blush.

While this was my mom, I wasn't comfortable with anyone seeing my body. I was extremely self-conscious, every second of every day. So I wished that I could hide myself as my mom unbuttoned my shirt, and began to feel around. She asked me if there was a specific place that hurt the most, and I flinched when she reached my collarbone.

"I think it's broken…" She said softly, a frown forming on her face. But she quickly wiped it off and her face went stoic. "There's a red bruise… most likely, it may require some medical attention. Hopefully, we can steer-clear of any surgeries…" She stated. She then began to lift my bra, and I flushed.

Once my breasts were exposed, I desperately wanted to cover myself. It made me upset that my blanket was just a few inches away, and yet I couldn't reach-out for it. Yes, I trusted my mom. But this didn't make me exposing myself to her, any easier.

She began to feel around and I closed my eyes. My breasts were sensitive. My mom said it was because they were starting to grow more. And while this would generally be a good thing, it actually made my life a little more uncomfortable. It amplified the slightest touch, and I disliked that so much.

She finished inspecting my breasts (luckily, there was no source of pain there), and then replaced my bra and looked at me. "I'm going to turn you around." She said. "Brace yourself." I nodded my head and held back my groan of pain as my mom began to flip me onto my stomach. My arm somehow got stuck beneath me, and it was twisted. Luckily, my mom saw this and removed my arm and placed it in a more comfortable position.

I took in silent, deep breaths.

The movement had caused my body to explode in pain. It was the weirdest thing. While I hadn't moved much, I still felt as if I was being struck by something heavy. It wasn't a good feeling, and I treasured those moments that happened after I was fully on my stomach, and lying still.

I could feel my mom placing pressure on certain points in my back. And again, there was no source of pain, but it was felt as she touched me. I wish I knew what was wrong with me…

When she reached my neck, I flinched and she pulled back immediately. "Your neck is as hot as a skillet…" She said to me. "Are you sick? Is that it? No. Couldn't be — you were just fine this morning…" She said. "I don't remember seeing any signs of a fever…" This was another thing that added to my fright.

How could I get so sick, so quickly? I'd been fine the entire day, and now I was in pain and wanted nothing more than to be better. I wish — I hope — it wasn't something like cancer…

(Although, I've never heard of cancer symptoms to be anything like this…).

"Hm…" She hummed as she continued to feel around my neck. She kept her thumb on a certain spot, and began to move it around. My eyes widened and I gasped in pain. "That's the source…" She mumbled.

I wanted to ask her what she meant, but I heard her get off the bed. I tried to move my head so that I could look at her, but it was useless.

"I'll be right back." She said to me. Then she left.

In the moments of her absence, I couldn't help but wonder, again, why this was all happening. What was the cause to this effect? Where, throughout today, had something happened to me that would lead to… _this_? And for the life of me, I couldn't figure it out.

But I felt better that my mom was now with me, and helping me. She was not only a huge source of support, but the fact that she was a nurse and had a lot of medical knowledge, was very comforting. It meant that she knew what she was doing. It meant that she could treat me for whatever illness I may have picked-up, and make me healthy once again.

It meant that she wouldn't stop until she exhausted every plan in the book and I was as I had been, early that morning.

When she came back to the room, she was holding a cup in her hand. I easily recognized it as the cup that contained a special type of medicine that she would always give me. It seemed to make everything better; as if it were some sort of magic liquid, when in reality, it was just a homemade remedy that I'd seen her prepare, several times.

She placed the cup to my mouth, and lifted my chin. I gulped it down (it tasted bitter sweet), and it wasn't long before I felt it start to take effect.

My vision became spotty, and suddenly my whole body began to feel heated. I felt my mom's soothing hand in my hair as I started to cough violently. While the medicine worked wonders, the moments where it began to do these things were always painful. It was some of the worst pain I'd ever experienced, but I knew that it would all be worth it, in the end.

I began to blink furiously as I tried to remain awake, but I soon gave-in to my mom's medicine. I fell asleep.

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><p>"You're not going to school tomorrow." Were the first words that my mom said to me when I woke-up, once again. It was the middle of the night, and she had seemed to set-up camp in my room as she filled-out some forms, while being seated on the beanbag chair that I had in my room.<p>

There was a mug of coffee balanced on her raised, bent knee, and a stack of files were to her right. She had taken a bath and refreshed herself; her clothes were different, her face was without makeup, and she wore a pair of her pajamas; a solid, light-blue-colored gown that went down to a little above her ankles, and was made of breathable and moveable material. It was decorated with flowers and vines of different colors, and I easily recognized it as one of the dresses that she had gotten while we were in Puerto Rico, a few years before.

"Or, should I say _today_ since it's already past midnight..." She mumbled. I watched as she closed her pen and placed everything she had, down on the floor beside her, before standing and coming over to me.

"Cómo te sientes? **[How are you feeling?]**" She asked me.

"I feel… better…" I said. I was glad that I could finally speak, again. The burning sensation in my throat was gone, and it no longer hurt to move. That was why I felt no pain as I sat-up on my bed, and turned my head to look at my mom. "Thank you."

"Fue nada. Tu eres mi hija y yo no quiero que seas enferma. **[It was nothing. You're my daughter and I do not want you to be sick]**." She said. I smiled gently at her. My mom… she loved and cared for me so much. I wished that there was something that I could do to show her just how grateful I was; to pay her back for everything. But I was still young and my resources were limited. But one day, I promised, one day I would take care of her the same way that she's taken care of me. I will show her just how much I appreciate everything that she's ever done for me. Until then, all I could do was become less of a burden on her. It seemed that every day she had to deal with an unpleasant situation that I caused.

_I wanted to stop intruding on her._

"I've called your Tía Luchí and she's agreed to come over and watch over you while I go to work later." She said to me.

I couldn't help but smile a little.

My aunt Luchí was one of the nicest people on this planet. She was a very vibrant character and always had the best stories to tell. While she and my mom never seemed to get along, there were always those moments where the two worked together really well; mostly when the situation involved me.

_I guess that was one of the good things that came with bringing problems — it brought my mom and aunt together._

"Me gustaría poder estar aquí con ustedes, pero el hospital está lanzando un evento pronto y tengo que ayudar a preparar. **[I wish I could stay here with you, but the hospital is throwing an event soon and I have to help prepare**.**]**" She said to me.

"It's okay mom." I said; momentarily covering my mouth with my sleeve as I coughed a bit. "I understand." I said to her. She gave me a gentle smile and ran her hands through my hair, once again. When she pulled back, she sighed and began to head towards where her makeshift office was set.

"Do you want anything to eat?" She asked.

I was about to decline (I didn't want to trouble her), when I suddenly realized that I hadn't eaten a thing since lunch at school — and that was a little over twelve hours ago. So I nodded my head. "Yes please—" And before she asked, I added, "—anything is fine."

"Bañaste mientras preparo tu comida. **[Bathe while I prepare your food.]**" She said. "Te puedes levanatar? **[Can you get up?]**" She asked me. I nodded my head and slowly began to get-off of my bed. While my body was sore, the pain was all gone and I felt immensely good. I couldn't help but smile a little as I stood on my bedroom floor, and fixed my wrinkly uniform.

"Muy bien. Te veo cuando estas lista. **[Very well. See you when you're ready.]**" She walked-out of my room, and I went to close the door before I headed back to my bed and began to take-off my clothes.

Once I was completely naked, I grabbed my towel and wrapped myself in it before beginning to head to the bathroom.

Already, I could smell pancakes.

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><p>Morning<p>

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><p>When Aunt Luchí arrived, it was four in the morning; only about two hours since I first woke-up. I was getting ready to start on my homework when the doorbell rang, and my mom opened it. I could hear her voice, but not what she and my mom were saying.<p>

When she came into the living room and saw me, I couldn't help myself as I smiled at her.

Aunt Luchí had long brown hair that she always had in curls. It didn't matter what time of day it was; her hair would always be curled. Even now, this early in the morning, it was in curlers. I found it amazing how she could boldly step-out into the world with tiny pink curlers in her hair, and act as if it were the most normal thing on the planet.

While normally she would wear bright-red lipstick, now her lips were bare, and so was the rest of her face. Her eyes were the same blue color as my mom's, and her face was slim and wide. She was wearing a heavy bubble coat that went down past her knees, gray sweatpants, white sneakers, and there was a large luggage bag in one hand, and a small one in the other. Her purse hung from her arm.

(It was clear to me that she'd probably gotten here in a hurry since she didn't look as she normally would).

There had been a frown on her face, but as soon as she spotted me, she placed her luggage down and came over to me. I stood from my position on the couch and went to hug her. In our embrace, I smelled her familiar scent of peppermint and the perfume that she always seemed to wear, whenever I saw her. She hugged me tightly, and kissed my head.

"Hola Conejita. **[Hello Bunny.]**" She said to me.

"Hola Tía Luchí. **[Hello Aunt Luchí.]**" I said to her.

"How have you been sweetheart? Feeling any better?" She asked me as we pulled away; her voice carrying a Spanish accent. Looking into her blue eyes, I could see the same love and warmth in them that my mom always held in her eyes. I was envious, for a moment. I've always wanted those blue eyes… they were beautiful…

"Yes. I'm feeling much better." I said to her. Her face then grew serious.

"That's good. From what your mom told me, you were very ill. Pain and a burning neck — whoo! That must've been _terrible_!" She said to me. I nodded my head; trying not to frown.

"It was but… but mom made it all better." I said.

"That's one good thing about your mom — she's a better nurse than she is a sister." I tried not to comment on that; I was afraid that it would lead to another fight between my mom and aunt. So instead, I smiled and pulled away from her.

"Any who~" She said in a sing-song voice. "If you need me, I'll be upstairs freshening up. Rosaura, when I get back down here, I expect a hot continental breakfast." She said.

I looked at my mom who stood in the doorway of the living room, sipping freshly-brewed tea from a mug. Her eyes were half-lidded as she looked at my aunt, and then she removed the mug and frowned. She crossed her free arm over her chest.

"Yo no soy tu siervo, Luchí. **[I am not your servant, Luchí]**" She said to my aunt.

"Todavía no… **[Not yet...]**" My aunt said with a smile. This only caused my mom's frown to deepen, and she was about ready to say something until my aunt began to head-up the stairs; her sneakers surprisingly making a loud sound against the carpeted steps. "Make sure it doesn't taste as bad as before. It almost sent me to the hospital, last time — and you call yourself a nurse… Hah!"

And with that, my aunt was fully up the stairs. I could tell that my mom was about to complain about her, until her eyes widened, she gasped, and then began to run-up the stairs. Her mug abandoned on the nearest table.

"Not in my room!" She screamed.

Knowing that I wouldn't be able to get any homework done until my mom had left the house and it was only me and my aunt, I headed back to where I had been seated, earlier, and began to pack-up my stuff. When everything was in my backpack, I took it and placed it in the coat closet (I'll get it later), before heading to the kitchen and starting work on my aunt's food. I knew that my mom wouldn't do it, but there was nothing stopping me from doing it for her.

When I was in the kitchen, I immediately thought of what my aunt would like. She said a continental breakfast, which to her meant something American since all she ever ate was traditional Puerto Rican food. So I got to work on some of the most American dishes that I knew; taking into consideration how my aunt enjoyed the greasy things in life.

Heading to the freezer, I searched for and grabbed the ground beef. I then placed it in the microwave and set it to defrost. Meanwhile, I began to grab the other things that would allow me to make the homemade bread for her cheese burger.

Since my mom almost always worked, I had learned how to cook and take care of myself at a very young age. I could cook things that a chef could, and always made sure that the meal was as healthy as could be. But since this was my aunt, and she wasn't one to care about healthy when it came to American food, I knew that I didn't have to worry about the calorie count.

I added the ingredients to make the bread, into a bowl, and began to stir it together. It was then that my mom came downstairs.

I momentarily looked at her and noticed the scowl on her face. I couldn't help but smile a little at her; trying to make the situation better. I knew that my mom wasn't happy with my aunt's arrival. The way she packed-up all of her files on the island and grabbed a bag of chips, showed it. (Her mug now in the sink — I'd wash it later).

"She thinks I asked her to stay here for a week. A _week_!" My mom exclaimed. "Already she's set-up shop in my room. Can you believe this?!" She said to me.

I gave her a nervous smile as I continued to make the dough. Once it was done, I placed plastic wrap on the table, covered it in flour, and did the same to the dough. I began to kneed it. Meanwhile, my mom continued her rant on my aunt. It wasn't long before she had come down the stairs, and the two engaged in a heated argument.

I hope that she really isn't going to stay here for a week. As much as I love my aunt, I don't like how she and my mom always fought when she was here. It wasn't a happy atmosphere, and I often spent my days and nights trying to calm my mom down while listening to her complain.

I won't say that I hate it, but it did get in the way of my schoolwork. However, I was willing to do anything to make my mom feel better during this time. She and I were a two-person family and we had to try our best.

So I finished making the bread, all the while providing my mom with support, and when my aunt once again came down to eat her homemade cheeseburger (she had gone back up the stairs to get away from my mom), she looked like her usual self with outrageous makeup on her face, and flashy clothing. She grabbed the burger, thanked me for it, and indulged herself in it. **(a/n: time span, about an hour or two…)**

I could see the look of displeasure on my mom's face, and she sighed as my aunt finished eating and immediately began to criticize my mom for making me cook.

That started another argument, and I couldn't wait until they were separated.

"Bunny…" My mom said as she and I left the kitchen to let my aunt eat in peace (she wanted seconds and thirds), and headed into the living room. "Remember, take it easy today. Don't do anything that could cause strain on your body. Every hour, drink your medicine — only one cap-full — and try to stay awake. You can't just sleep the day away…" She stated.

While the medicine made me better, the aftermath always included a high fever. I would basically be burning-up all day — in a few hours, actually, since the fever started six hours after I first drink the medicine. I would be fine by tomorrow, though.

"Yes mom." I said softly.

"And keep your aunt from doing anything _stupid_. I don't want her destroying my room or inviting a bunch of her friends over…" She said with a hateful glare in her eyes. I nodded.

"I'll do my best." I said.

"Good girl." My mom said. She got close to me and kissed my forehead. I smiled. "You're a good daughter."

* * *

><p>When it was time for me to go to school, I felt a little uncomfortable sitting on my couch and watching TV, when I was supposed to be getting dressed and preparing myself for another day of school. I had finished my homework, and was now fighting the fever that hit me about an hour ago.<p>

It was the worst thing, ever.

My body temperature was so high, I was convinced that I could be able to cook something on my skin. My head ached, and I was always on the border of losing consciousness, but I willed myself to keep moving forward.

Every now and then, a moment of extreme cold would wash over my body, and a string of sneezes would come out of me for what seemed like forever, until my body got warm again.

"Ay Dios mío… **[Oh my god…]**" My aunt said as she handed me a new box of tissues. It was a good thing my mom always kept us stocked with them, otherwise I would be in danger of destroying our supply of napkins. "That fever is _horrible_! How can you get something like that?" She asked me before she sat back down on the couch and continued watching her _novela_.

"I-it's a—achoo!" I sneezed into a tissue. I blew my nose into it. "An a-allergy…" I stated. My nose was stuffy and I hated this so much. But there wasn't a thing I could do about it. I'd suffer through it for about twenty-four hours until I was… fully healed.

"How?" She asked me.

"S-some-t-thing in the m-medi-cine…" I stated. I wasn't sure exactly what was in there that I was allergic to, but my mom told me that this fever was due to an allergy. While it wasn't life-threatening, it was serious. Although, when my fever was done, my mom would inject me with my medicine and that would make me fully healthy, once again.

Until then, I had to push-through.

The next hours were spent with the same routine. I had broken-out into a sweat in the middle of the fever, and despite this, I was also shivering. It was a contradiction — I was sweating while shivering, two things that were done for completely opposite temperatures.

But I was somewhat used to this extreme fever. It wasn't the first time my mom gave me this medicine.

"Are you hungry?" My aunt asked me after her _novela_ ended.

I shook my head. "I-I-I-I-I'll v-vomit…" I stated. I couldn't eat a single thing while I held this fever — no matter how hungry I got. I would literally vomit the second after I swallowed. It wasn't worth it.

My aunt gave me a sad look — I tried to smile, but once again went into a fit of sneezes as my temperature dropped.

I couldn't wait until I was through with it.

* * *

><p>At one point, my aunt stood from the couch to get the door. Someone was ringing it, and I could hear her speak to a male as she opened it. There was confusion in her voice, but I couldn't tell exactly what she was saying. My ears were ringing and I had to pop them every few seconds to be able to pick-up sound…<p>

A few moments later, when I was switching to a new box of tissues, my aunt came into the room and there was a large box in her hand. It was in the shape of a rectangular prism, and was made of cardboard. There were stickers on it with barcodes and stuff. I looked at the box curiously — was that another package for my mom? Although, I can't recall her ever telling me that she was expecting a package.

"Bunny, this came for you." My aunt said. I looked at her surprised. That box was for me?

"Huh?" I asked. I popped my ears again. Maybe I misheard?

"This box came for you. It has your name on it and everything — did you buy something online?" She asked me. I shook my head. I never bought anything online. "Well… consider this an early birthday gift, then." She said to me. I found it a little odd that she would say this, but it made sense. Most likely, the box could be a gift from a relative since my birthday was next month… maybe they thought it would take a while for it to get here?

"I'll go ahead and put it in your room so you can open it later on. Although, if you feel better, don't open it until you get clearance from your mom — you never know."

My aunt was always superstitious and believed that the smallest of things could hold great evil in them. It was a wonder she didn't live cooped-up in her house with how often she avoided doing things because she feared it may unleash some type of ghost or something.

But I wouldn't make fun of her for this, and I agreed with her. I should be careful when it came to suspicious objects like that; especially when I had no clue why I got it.

"O-okay…" I said softly. An alarm went off, and when I stopped it, I then grabbed the bottle of medicine that was next to me, and shakily filled the little measuring cup beside it, with more. My hands were shaking and weak — I felt like I was pushing my body to its limit while I did such a simple task.

When I had a cap-full of the blue liquid, I gulped it down in one shot. Immediately my fever got worse, and I wanted to sleep, but if I fell asleep, the fever would last me longer — so I remained awake as best as I could. I reset the alarm so that it would go-off once again, in another hour, and pushed the blanket further up my body.

I laid my head against the arm of the recliner. I wanted to sleep, but I wouldn't _dare_ do such a thing.

My aunt came back into the living room, and she held a glass of water in her hands. She handed it to me with a smile, and I was thankful. My throat was parched, and water was one of the things that helped to stabilize my condition when I had this fever — especially if it was extremely cold.

I noticed all of the ice-cubes inside of the glass, and was glad.

"Later, I'll get you some ice-cream — would that help? I know your mom mentioned something about you having as many cold things as possible." She asked. I nodded my head. Ice-cream would _definitely _help — the colder the better.

"Y-yes please…" I said in a hoarse whisper. I grabbed the glass with my hand, and placed it to my lips. It was like instant relief as I drunk the water.

The coldness of it really helped.

I gulped it all down, and handed the glass back to her. I then cuddled back into the couch, exhaled, and continued to watch the _novela _that was now playing. It was a good thing each episode was an hour long. It helped me keep track of time.

* * *

><p>"<em>Hime…" There was a voice. It was soft, and sounded young… like that of a child.<em>

"_Don't worry…" The voice said. "We'll make you better."_

* * *

><p>My mouth was bloody.<p>

I was coughing blood into a napkin and my aunt was on the phone with my mom — speaking frantically as she tried to get answers from her. Her words were fast, fading in and out from English to Spanish, and hard to pick-up, but I understood that she was asking my mom on how this was happening to me.

Why was I coughing blood? Why was I suffering through this? _Was I dying_, I heard her ask. As another glob of blood spewed from my mouth and into the trash can that I had on my lap, I knew that my mom was telling her as much as she could, without giving too much away. In all honesty, I didn't think my mom understood why I got this way when I drunk that medicine. She said it was allergies, but I'm very certain that a person doesn't go through this when they're exposed to something that causes their allergies to emerge.

I won't lie. I get scared whenever I get this fever. I always thought that I would die, when it got to this stage. I feared that, one day, I would lose so much blood that I'd pass-out and that would be the end of me. It was one of the reasons why I hated drinking the medicine, but my mom always assured me that nothing bad would happen — I wouldn't die. I'd just suffer through some symptoms and be done and over with it.

_If only it was as easy as it sounded…_

I wanted to cry in pain as vomit forced its way out of my body. It was a horrible feeling. I had barely eaten a thing, and the few things that I _had _managed to eat, were being forced out of my body… It was sad, and I wanted to fall into a blissful sleep where I wouldn't have to deal with this, but I couldn't — not until the fever was in its final stages…

So I stayed there, on my couch, coughing blood into napkins and puking into a trashcan, and suffered through the fever.

I wish that it would end, already…

* * *

><p>The blood had stopped, and the fever was entering its final stages. Thankfully, my mom had gotten off of work early today, and was now taking care of me while avoiding my aunt as much as she possibly could.<p>

"Here you go…" She said to me, softly, as she gave me a vaccine. I cringed. I never did like vaccines. I was scared of them, for some reason, even though I couldn't remember _why_. However, this didn't make the pointy needle any less frightening. I hated whenever it stabbed into me, and the sting that came along with it. Thankfully, my mom was the one giving it to me. Otherwise, I would probably be crying right about now… "There." She said, as she began to place the needle in a little case to the side, and grabbed a bandage.

Almost immediately, I could feel it affecting me. My rapidly-beating heart was calming down, and I was slowly being lulled to sleep by the medicine.

"S-should-I… uh… b-be fuzalling agleep?" I tried to ask her. My voice was slurred; the muscles in my jaw relaxing too much.

I was afraid to fall asleep. My mom had said to me that I shouldn't fall asleep after drinking my medicine. But… but I couldn't stop myself as I felt my body begin to power down.

"It's okay…" My mom said to me, gently. "You need to rest."

* * *

><p>"<em>Imouto…" A girl said to her. "I have come to read you your most favored piece of literature — perhaps it will appeal to you and make you less ill?"<em>

_The little girl in the bed, smiled._

_The older girl went to the large bookshelf in the room, pulled-out a book and—_

* * *

><p>I… was… <em>freezing<em>!

I'm very certain that my body temperature had gone down beyond what was acceptable. I felt as if my entire body was covered by snow — a living snowman. It was an awful feeling, and I was pretty sure that my bones were covered in a thin sheet of ice or something…

"M-m-m-m-mom!" I exclaimed as I called-out for my mom.

She came to me in less than a minute, and had a towel in her hand. I recognized it as the towel that I used for whenever I took a bath.

"I have the bathtub set-up. The water's scorching, but given your current state, I don't think it will burn you." She said to me, as she took the blanket off of my body, placed the towel on me, and once again lifted me like she had done earlier.

I closed my eyes as she began to move. The motion was a little nauseating, but I kept myself from vomiting on my mom. I would never be able to apologize enough for that, if I let it happen.

"R-rosaura!" I could hear my aunt say. My mom was moving up, and I assumed that she was going up the stairs. "C-cómo estás haciendo eso?! **[How are you doing that?!]**" She exclaimed.

"Callaste Luchí… **[Remain silent, Luchí…]**" I heard my mom say.

I could sense that my aunt wanted to rebuttal, but she didn't. Instead, I could hear her footsteps beside those of my mom. My mom stopped going up the stairs, and was walking towards the bathroom.

"Necesitas ayuda? **[Do you need help?]**" My aunt asked.

"No." My mom replied, firmly. A few moments later, my mom had placed me against something. She then whispered to me, "I'm going to take your clothes off, now." She then said, "Luchí, leave." She ordered.

"Por q— **[Wh—]**"

"_Leave_!" My mom exclaimed.

I was stunned for a moment. I opened my eyes and looked at my mom. Her head was turned to my aunt, and there was a deadly serious look on her face. I'd never seen my mom like that before, and I couldn't help but wonder why.

_Maybe… maybe she was afraid, too?_

Looking at my aunt, I watched as she left the bathroom; closing the door on her way out. Then my mom sighed and looked back at me. I made sure not to show any emotion; she was probably feeling bad about yelling at her sister, as it was.

My mom then began to remove my clothes. Thankfully, I was wearing a pair of my pajamas so there wasn't much to do. I grew embarrassed when she took off my bra — she saw this and placed the towel over my body. Then she removed my underwear; although she never saw it since my towel covered there, too. Once she pulled them off, she placed everything in a plastic bag, and then picked me up, again.

I felt so upset that I was having my mom baby me so much. I had made it a goal in my life to become independent so that my mom wouldn't have to do so much for me. But… but it didn't seem as if that would ever happen.

_Especially with my attitude…_

She placed me in the bathtub filled with surely buckets and buckets of nothing but hot, hot, _hot_ water, and more steam rose. Was my body really _that_ cold? Was this something… _human_? Is a person's body supposed to get this cold and create steam when placed in hot water?

_Was this __safe__?_

"This should do it." My mom said as I was fully in the water. For some odd reason, my body wasn't irritated or red. My skin was regular… my mom's, however, was a little red since she had to place me inside of the water for so long. I wanted to apologize, but she spoke again. "A few minutes soaking in here should raise your body temperature…"

"Mom…"

"No. Don't say anything." She said to me; reaching out to place her hand on my cheek. She gave me a smile and wiped the tear that fell from my eye, with her thumb. "I promise you that, by tomorrow, everything will be alright. It'll be just like before — you'll be healthy and happy. If you want, you can even stay home from school, again, and show me a few of your latest masterpieces…"

I smiled at her.

"Mom…" I said happily. I couldn't believe that she was willing to do this to make me happy. But at the same time, it made me wonder… Was she really so afraid of me losing my life? Was this illness really worth me missing school once again?

I thought about it, and knew that it wasn't. I had already missed a day, and who knows how Malissa would react if I missed another day… I doubt it would be positive.

"N-no thank you…" I said to her. "I'll go to school tomorrow. I… I can't make a habit of not going after being sick." I said to her.

"Are you sure? You can stay with me at the hospital if you'd like." She said. But I shook my head. I shouldn't be staying home so often. One time was too much.

"No. I'm sure." I said.

"Okay then…" My mom said. She then stood to her full height, and I looked-up at her. "I'll go make you some dinner. You should be able to eat by now… I'll be back once I have the chicken started." She said to me.

I nodded my head and remained quiet as she left the bathroom. Once the door was closed, I leaned back against the bath tub, and held the towel closer to my body.

I closed my eyes, and napped as my body cooled.

.

.

.

A while later I opened my eyes to the sound of the door opening. My mom entered the room and had a new towel, along with some clothes, in her hand. She placed them on the sink before she came over to me, and touched me.

"Your body's warmed-up." She then placed a thermometer in my mouth and we waited a few moments before it beeped. She then took it out and looked at it. "It's normal. You can add some warm water and take a nice, long bath. And when you get out, a nice, hot meal will be waiting for you." She said to me.

I smiled at her. "Thanks mom." I said softly.

"I'll be back in a while to wash your hair." She said to me. I nodded my head and then she left.

I let out a sigh.

Moving forward, I turned on the hot water and let it start to fill the tub. I could finally feel the change in the water.

I was no longer sick.

* * *

><p>.<p>

.

.

* * *

><p>End. This chapter was shorter because it was mainly focusing on the aftermath of what happened to Bunny in the last chapter. I had originally thought of making it normal, but then this idea came to me and I loved it and went with it. I'm glad that I'm going part-by-part with this story, and taking it nice and slow. It, thankfully, gives me some time to think about what I'm doing and how I want to build the story up to her discovering just who she is. Sadly, it will also make some chapters very boring… which will be overshadowed by the totally awesome chapters I have planned. I've developed this story so much. (I've even created its couples. :]).<p>

Next chapter: Bunny returns to school, and the new girl tries to get closer to her. But why? What is her motive? And what was inside the box? Who was it from?

Xoxoxo Chibi Star Vamp


	6. I Want to be Your Friend

Chapter five. I hope that you all like it. The beginning is, of course, a flashback. However, it includes a new character that is very important to the storyline — being as how she has a very, very close connection with the missing princess. There was a hint of her in the last chapter; she was the female speaking in the final flashback. Also, Bunny returns to school, and Malissa doesn't hold back. I hope you like the developments in this chapter. They're keys to bigger and better things.

I own _everything_!

Enjoy!

P.S. Flashback included — new character introduction.

* * *

><p><em>Her hair was a beautiful, soft, pastel purple color. It was straight and very silky, and went down to her waist. Her lovely bangs were pulled back by a metallic headband; that held a rainbow spectrum to it whenever the light reflected off of it. Her long pastel-colored hair was free from restraints besides the headband, and fell past her shoulders and landed softly on the middle of her back.<em>

_She had small white, flower-carved earrings that were placed in her small ears. A diamond was placed in the center, and shined beautifully in the sunlight. Along with that, she wore a silver-colored choker around her neck, with a white circular pendant hanging from its center. The pendant wasn't very large, and was made of polished moon stone, and hid highly advanced pieces of technology inside of it._

_Her eyes were of the color silver, and, like the headband on her head, also seemed to hold tiny fragments of different colors, inside of them. They were a very beautiful, lovely pair of eyes that were framed by extremely dark and flawless black eyelashes and perfectly plucked purple eyebrows above them._

_Her face was slightly chubby, due to her young age of seven, but there was a sense of maturity in her eyes that held wisdom beyond her age-group. It was clear to all of those who came in contact with her that she was a very bright child._

_She wore simple-like clothing — a simple white dress that held a frilly bottom. The bottom was plump and the edges curled in towards the bottom, and dainty flower prints were hand-sewn into its veil-like material. The top was plain, simple silk fabric, along with thin straps. The only image on the top of her dress was the moon insignia printed on the back. However, it was hidden due to the gray cardigan that she had over her dress, and tied to her waist using a white belt. The young seven-year-old also wore white, small-heeled boots, and plain, solid gray pantyhose._

_She sighed as she looked-out the window of the object that she was in, and caught a glimpse of the large structure in the distance. Moving closer to the window, she couldn't help the smile that overcame her face._

'_Home at last…' She finally thought. _

_After over two months of being away from home and tending to a research project, she finally had the luxury of returning to the people whom she loved most in her lifetime. Already her stomach was bubbling with excitement as she imagined all the things that she would be able to do, once she met-up with her family, again._

'_Surely I will have to tell them about my progress.'_ _She thought as she leaned back in her seat and secured her seatbelt; she knew that they were close to landing. 'And after that, I can resume my training. I do hope that Okaa-san will be able to help me. I really need her help mastering my Element…'_ _Briefly she adjusted her special headpiece. 'Then, afterwards, I can converse with Ani-ue and Imouto. Surely Imouto would like to hear about the new star close to forming… With luck, my research will allow me to pluck it from the sky, shrink it, and make it stable enough to allow me to give it to her as a present…' She smiled at the thought._

_She ran her left hand over a black, metallic case that was sitting in the empty seat next to her. The case held rounded edges to it, and held no hint of how it was opened. But she knew __exactly_ _how the casing would be opened, and she planned to do so, later, once she arrived in her room._

"_**Approaching: Animetra Castle. Prepare for landing in Sector E-89." **__Her eyebrows furrowed._

"_E-89?" She repeated. "Why are we landing there? Pilot!" She called-out for the driver of the airborne machine. Almost immediately, a light-green-colored square-like rectangle appeared in thin-air, and the image of a woman's face appeared on the screen. Not much was visible of her face since her head was downcast, and there was a silver helmet covering the top of it, as well as tinted glass coming down from the helmet, and shielding the woman's eyes._

"_Yes, Onagi-no-kimi?" The woman asked._

"_Please, clear the hazy clouds of confusion that plague my mind. Shine a light in the undesirable mist. Why are we landing in Sector E-89?" She asked._

"_**I have received orders from Control Panel to land there. Sadly, that is all I know, Onagi-no-kimi." **__The woman said to her. The young girl sighed — the woman's answer only serving to make her grow more curious about the situation._

"_I see… thank you for telling me, Pilot."_

"_**It was of no disturbance, Onagi-no-kimi."**_

_The image flickered, and then both the feminine face and the light-green-colored hovering shape, disappeared._

_The petite girl leaned back in her seat. _

'_I wonder what has occurred, for there to be a gate change…'_

* * *

><p>"<em>Spica."<em>

_She said as she finally entered her bedroom. Her metallic silver doors slid open, and the lights automatically switched on. There were several sounds, for a few seconds, before a robotic voice said to her, __**"Greetings, Onagi-no-kimi."**_

"_Greetings, Computer." She stated as the doors closed behind her, and she continued to make her way over to her simple bed. "Locate Spica." She stated._

"_**Locating… locating…" **__The computer responded. __**"Location successful. Spica is in the balcony." **_

"_I see… she must be soaking in the fresh summer sun." She stated. "Very well then. Now, debrief me on what has occurred in the weeks of my absence. I am very curious as to why there would suddenly be a gate change — my Pod landed on the other side of the castle. Quite unusual, if I do say so myself…" She stated as she took a seat on her flower-scented bed, and placed the black box on her lap._

_She ran her palm over the top, and her eyes momentarily appeared with several green lines in it, before the box opened. It revealed a smooth surface on the bottom, and the same thing at the top. She placed her hand on the bottom, and felt a momentary pinch — the top half then flashed green._

_Her personal computer was turning on._

"_**Sources tell me that a State of Emergency has been declared for all of Animetra. Galactic terminals have been shut down, and space travel has become prohibited. No one is allowed in, or outside of the planet."**_

_She paused in the search of her database, to look-up at the large computer screen above her door._

"_Are you certain?"_

"_**Yes. The planet is on high-alert and all intergalactic communications have been disabled."**_

"_My, my…" She said softly. "Why would my parents do this? Tell me, what has occurred that led to this dreadful decision? To put the entire planet on lock-down, ad infinitum — truly what transpired was no small feat." She stated._

"_**Wait one moment, please… searching… searching…"**_

"_I must upgrade your programming. Your systems have been becoming a little slow…" She stated softly._

"_**Search successful. According to the private data of the castle, on the morning of July first, at exactly eleven twenty-two am, both Onagi Yayuki and Itorashi Hitoshi were kidnapped from the Animetra Castle grounds, and Onagi Yuki and Itorashi Kiyomi and Itorashi Hitomi were hospitalized and treated for bullet wounds to the body, and poisoning."**_

"_What?!" She screamed. Her rainbow-specked eyes widened at the large screen that hung over her bedroom door. "This cannot be true… Bring up the files." She stated. She placed her fingers to her headband, and brought down a clear, plastic layer that was over it, so that it was now placed in front of her eyes. At the same time, several reports came-up on her computer screen, and she began to scan them with her glasses. They magnified the text and scanned all the important areas — highlighting things that confirmed what her computer system had told her._

"_Questo non può essere la verità — sicuramente c'è una bugia qui, da qualche parte. _**[This cannot be the truth — surely there is a lie here, somewhere.]**_" She said, distressed._

"_**Status Update." **__Her system said as she continued to look over the information. __**"Medical Records show that Onagi Yuki is scheduled for another surgery. It is life-threatening. There are still large amounts of poison in his body, and it must be removed through surgery since it has flooded his lungs. If surgery is not performed soon, his lungs will collapse and he will not survive." **__She gasped. Her brother… _

"_Computer, assign me as the head doctor." She stated. "I want all files pertaining to this issue to be saved, and stored away in a new file — named: 'Conspiracy', for I am certain that is what is occurring…" She said. "Transfer files to my Black Book. Now."_

"_**Accessing Medical Files… Working… working… done. You are now head doctor, Onagi-no-kimi. Transferring files to Black Book…" **__A green light appeared from the top center of the screen's border, and went down to touch the small black computer in the girl's lap. She watched as the files were quickly transferred. __**"Transfer: Complete."**_

"_Good…" She said as she immediately saved all the files. "What time is the surgery?" She asked as she closed the object, and decided that what she originally planned to do, could wait._

"_**Surgery planned for: three o'clock, this afternoon." **_

"_Current time."_

"_**Current time: two forty-nine pm."**_

"_Very well. I shall quickly prepare myself to perform the surgery." She stated. Grabbing the personal computer in her hand, she quickly placed it inside a slim, metallic-gray rectangular case with a strap, that was attached to the front of her luggage, and began to head towards a white door._

"_While I prepare myself, inform Spica of my arrival." She stated._

"_**Yes Onagi-no-kimi." **_

_As the door to her personal bathroom opened, and the lights turned on — "Stabilizing pre-surgery shower, and with haste." — and the machines went to swiftly do their work, her mind found time to process what had just occurred._

_Her brother needed surgery to save his life, and her little sister was kidnapped. And to add insult to injury, her best-friend was also hospitalized, and one of her brothers as well, while the other had been captured along with her little sister. She expected much to happen when she finally arrived, but never something like __this__._

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><p>.<p>

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><p><span>Animetra Princess <span>

_**Chapter 5: I Want To Be Your Friend…**_

***By Chibi Star Vamp***

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><p>.<p>

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><p>At school the next day, I was the third one inside the room.<p>

To my surprise, the new girl was talking with Mrs. Brooksteen about something, at her desk. When I entered the room, she immediately turned to me and smiled. I would've felt bad had I not returned her warm welcome, so I smiled back at her, as well. (Or at least, I tried. Smiling was a bit awkward for me since I didn't do it very often).

"Hi Bunny — glad to see that you're back to school." She said.

"T-thank you…" I said softly; feeling a little awkward that she was talking to me. I was still weary of the new girl — now more than ever considering how she had fixed the page of my drawing book, and made it look like new. This was still considered an enigma in my mind, and it made me wonder about the new girl.

_Had she copied the page and replaced it in the book?_ No. That wasn't possible. I had gotten that book about three years ago, before I moved. It wasn't sold here. The page was still erasable, and the pencil strokes and everything were the same. I could even see some of my old attempts at making the crescent.

_Or, maybe, she had redrawn the whole book? _That was also impossible since it required a lot of time to copy an entire drawing book. The page had ripped during lunch, and she gave it back to me before the sun set.

That wasn't enough time.

So how, I asked myself as I began to head to the coat closet and take-off my coat and unload my backpack, was she able to replace the page? What had she done? What skills did this new girl possess?

Quickly, though, I stopped these thoughts and focused on getting everything out of my backpack. Once I had my notebooks and other things that I had taken home with me, in my hands, I headed-over to my desk and placed them on top, before going to Mrs. Brooksteen's desk.

She stopped her conversation with the new girl, and looked at me. (Briefly I wondered why they were conversing, but snuffed out that thought; it was none of my business).

"I-I have a n-note from my mom…" I said softly as I handed her a slip that my mom had written on and given to me, the other night. She said that it was the reason as to why I wasn't at school yesterday. Mrs. Brooksteen took it, read it, and then looked back up at me.

"Sick? Are you feeling better?" She asked me. I nodded my head.

"Yes." I said softly.

"That's good to hear." She said to me. "I'll be sure to tell this to the Main Office and have the absence taken-away." I was surprised that she said this. Normally, an absence would still be counted if it was due to an illness of some sort. Why would she have the absence taken away?

I was just about to ask when another teacher came into the room. It was my science teacher.

"A word, Mrs. Brooksteen." He said.

She stood from her seat and went with him (giving us a look that I easily recognized, and locking the door on her way out). This left me and the new girl alone in the classroom, and I headed back to my desk and took a seat. The new girl took her seat beside me, and there was an awkward silence present in the room as I crossed my arms, and laid my head against them.

"So…" She said a few moments later. "I hope you don't mind, but, I kinda took notes for you, yesterday." This caught my attention and I raised my head and looked at her as she said this. She was going into her desk and pulled-out a fuzzy and pink portfolio folder that held a lot of decorations on it. "I thought you'd like to study them so you won't be behind the class." She stated as she handed them to me.

I grasped the folder and opened it. The notes were each written on different-colored paper, and organized by class. They were impressive — they even had diagrams and her opinions on things and everything!

It amazed me that she took the time to do this… for me…

"Thank you." I said to her, softly, as I closed the folder and began to put it away in my desk. "T-that's very k-kind of you…" I said to her. She smiled at me.

"It was nothing. I knew that you wouldn't want to feel dumb — it's not your fault you were sick." She said to me. "Besides, it really wasn't a problem. The classes were kinda slow and boring and I figured that I'd help you out since, you know, you're a nice girl, Bunny." I blushed a little at this, and was about to answer her when she pulled something out of her bag, and held out her hand for me.

I looked down. In her palm was a golden-wrapped square wrapped with a small, trimmed, light-blue ribbon.

"Want?" She asked. "It's special candy — all the way from _Switzerland_. I got some yesterday and wanted to share with you." She said to me.

I was hesitant to accept it, at first, but I thought that it would be rude of me to not accept her candy when she had taken the time to write down notes for me. So I accepted it with a smile, unwrapped it, and ate it.

My mouth was assaulted by gooey chocolate that seemed to cover my tongue entirely. My taste buds were… almost exploding. It was the most delicious candy I'd ever had.

"Wow." I said.

"I know right. They make such good chocolate over in Switzerland — and this one is made from scratch. It takes _days_ to prepare it." She said as she put a piece of it into her mouth.

I swallowed and suppressed the burning desire to ask for me.

"It's amazing." I stated. "H-how did you get it?" I asked her.

"I know people." She said. She placed the bag of candy away, and I tore my eyes away from the wrapping. But she seemed to notice my look as she asked me, "Want some more? I've got _tons_!" She said softly.

I would've answered her (hopefully declining), but the bell rung, Mrs. Brooksteen returned, and the students came into the classroom. I could feel my slightly happy mood lessen as I watched them all enter the class. When Tracy came in, her eyes immediately landed on me, and she walked over to me instead of heading to the coat closet. There was a frown on her face.

_I could only imagine what she was about to say to me…_

"And where have _you_ been?" She asked me.

I swallowed down the lump in my throat. "I-I-I-I was s-sick…" I said softly. My voice had shriveled down and I could feel my hands shaking on my lap. It was an unpleasant feeling, to be stared-down by Tracy's intense eyes, and the last thing I wanted was for her to suddenly do something that would cause me pain. (Tracy never thought twice about violence when something upset her, really badly).

"Sick? Ugh!" She groaned. "That's just gross. You better not have brought back that virus here to school to infect us all your selfish little—"

"Actually, the odds of you catching it are slim." I turned my wide eyes to the new girl as she spoke to Tracy. "By the looks of it, the virus is probably gone. Bunny doesn't show any signs of it, and she hasn't coughed or sneezed or anything. From what a girl told me, Bunny is highly hygienic and is probably careful about spreading or catching any type of illness. Besides, the only way you'd be able to catch it is if you touched something she contaminated, and then your mouth, nose, or eyes, or if she sneezed — on you or nearby — and you inhaled. None of that is gonna happen, so stop being so mean to her."

I was frozen silent.

I couldn't believe what she had done. The new girl had stood-up to Tracy; she had corrected Tracy…

(I'd never heard of such a thing happening. No one ever corrected Tracy — because Tracy was Malissa's right hand and the school gossip. She'd deliver the news to Malissa faster than anyone else, and the consequences weren't something that people wanted to deal with).

I could tell that Tracy was surprised, too, since she had this look of disbelief on her face that I've only ever seen when someone tells her something that she doesn't agree with. She looked so offended — of course, this was to be expected.

"G-g-who are you?!" She exclaimed. "How dare you think that you have the right to speak to _me_ like that?" She stated; her voice still slightly nasal-y.

"I'm Mickey, and I'm defending my friend."

"_Friend_?!" Tracy asked. That look on her face twisted into one of disgust. "You're actually calling her your _friend_?" She asked.

"Of course." The new girl said. "She's a really nice girl, and I know that the reason why she hasn't shown her true colors is because you and your _friends_—" she mimicked the look of disgust on Tracy's face; causing Tracy to frown. "—are so mean to her." She stated.

Tracy scoffed.

"You'll regret calling Malissa's slave your friend."

The new girl shrugged. "No I won't." She said with a smile on her face. "I'm sure it'll just lead to some pretty nice things. After all, Bunny is sweet and she's such an _amazing_ artist. I've never really seen art like hers, before; it brings about a sense of nostalgia that—"

"Yeah, yeah — whatever. I'm sure her stick figures are as good as any other second grader's." Tracy said. "I really don't care. But trust me, new girl, you won't like the decision that you've made." At this, I watched as the new girl rolled her eyes.

"You know, in my country, you wouldn't be respected — pitied, actually, since you're following another person's rules and regulations and don't have a life of your own. You feast off of that red-headed-girl, and have claimed your purpose in life as being only to serve her. You have no identity, and that's sad."

I couldn't _believe_ that she had just said that to Tracy!

Already I was imagining all of the things that Malissa would later do to her, since she offended Tracy. It wasn't something that one did — not if they wanted to stay off of Malissa's radar.

The new girl had basically become the newest target.

* * *

><p>"Sodium nitrate." The new girl said aloud to the class.<p>

We were in science class and the teacher had asked us the name of a compound placed on the board. It was written as _NaNO__3_, and although we haven't been taught any of this, he had asked us to guess what it was called as a joke. Needless to say, we were all surprised as the new girl answered.

"It's a heterogeneous mixture since the elements included do not take-up the same percentage of the compound. There's more Oxygen in it than there is Sodium and Nitrogen."

"Very good." Mr. McLaughlin said with a look of disbelief on his face. "I don't think anyone could answer it, but good job — very good job, uh…" He paused as he went to the class attendance booklet to try and figure-out her name.

"Mickey." She stated.

"Right. Mickey. Sorry, I'm still learning your name." He said.

"I don't mind, Mr. McLaughlin. I didn't expect you to learn my name in one day, and I also don't care if you know it or not. A name isn't that important — it just gives an identity to the person and their personality. But one can very easily recognize someone _without_ the use of a name." She stated.

"Very true." He said. "Now, onto today's lesson…"

I stole a glance at the new girl. She pulled-out a magazine from inside of her desk, and began to read it instead of listening to Mr. McLaughlin's lesson. I'll admit that I was both surprised and jealous at the fact that she could answer that question — I didn't have a _clue_ what it was.

The new girl probably learned how to read things like that, back at her old school…

"This class is so boring…" She muttered. "I feel like I'm back in grade school learning about chemistry all over again." She said. I didn't comment, but tried to focus on taking notes in class. Mr. McLaughlin was reviewing the work from yesterday, and I haven't had a chance to look at the new girl's notes that she handed me, and study them. This was my opportunity to catch-up to the rest of the class, and I wasn't about to waste it.

I copied the notes, and smiled whenever he made a joke that I found funny. By the time the class had ended, I felt good about the material that I learned, and began to pack my things away.

It was now lunch time.

Instead of standing like the other kids and forming a line, I stayed in my seat and waited until they had all left before going to my backpack and getting my lunch.

I sat back down on my desk and waited for Mrs. Brooksteen to return so I could get permission to leave the room.

When Mrs. Brooksteen reentered the room, she nodded at me before I left and began to head down the hallway, and down to the school library on the second floor.

"Bunny, wait up!" I paused in my descent down the stairs, as I heard the new girl's voice. The boots that she was wearing that day made a loud sound against the stairs, and she was next to me in the next few minutes. "I wanna come with you." She said to me. I looked at her, surprised.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because I want to. Is it so hard to believe that someone wants to spend some quality time with you?" She asked me. I looked away from her; not wanting to answer. But it seemed that my silence spoke volumes to her. "Those girls have really ruined you, haven't they? You're probably not even confident in doing the smallest, most simplest things…" Her voice was tinted with sadness, and it made me feel both embarrassed and upset.

_Why was she doing this? Why was she analyzing their affect on me? _

But the thought of the girls led me to remembering the fact that I was expected, today, to eat lunch with Malissa since I wasn't here, yesterday. This made me go down the stairs faster. I had to get down to the cafeteria as soon as possible.

"Bunny, what's wrong? Why are you in such a rush? Did I say something wrong? I didn't mean to offend you or anything." She said to me.

"T-that's not i-it." I said to her as I pushed past the doors and began to walk to the front entrance of the cafeteria. I could use the back entrance, too, but the door there was usually closed and could only be opened from the inside.

"Then what is it?" She asked me. "Aren't you headed to the library? Why are you going to the cafeteria?" She asked me.

I couldn't answer her.

Malissa had caught sight of me, and if I spoke with the new girl, or made any gesture that I was acquainted with her, she would make me regret it. _I just knew it…_

I stood in front of Malissa's table and held my lunch to my chest. The table had gone silent and she stared me down. Then something flickered in her eyes and she darted them away from me, and then looked back at me with an eyebrow raised. I gulped; knowing what she was asking me about.

"I-I—"

"Oh. I see. You run to get back to _her_." The new girl said. I gulped and looked down, away from Malissa.

"And _who_ are you?" Malissa asked.

"That is none of your concern." The new girl said to Malissa. It was so bold and confident that I was _certain _that other people were beginning to stare at her. The ones surrounding Malissa could probably hear the new girl speaking to her, and were surprised that someone was speaking to _Malissa_, of all people, like that — it was considered a death wish.

"Look, you're obviously new here, so let me tell you a few things…" Her voice was calm — the calm before the storm.

"First: you do _not_ speak to me like that. I am Malissa Johanson and this school belongs to _me_, therefore, I am to be treated like the princess that I am."

"You're a princess? I'm sorry, but I know for a _fact _that princesses do not act like you. They are kind and considerate, and are not snobby and pompous. While they can have everything and anything, they enjoy the simpler things in life and are some of the nicest people that you could meet. Even if their personalities are strong, soft, or barely visible, they're still well-mannered, unselfish girls who do not claim something as _theirs_ unless it is apparent that it belongs to them. You are the complete opposite of a princess — I am certain that if you were a _true_ princess, you would've been _assassinated_ by now…"

Malissa scoffed. "Yeah right. I'm pretty sure that a princess wouldn't act like _any _of that. She'd make a person jealous of everything and anything they did, and assert her dominance over her loyal subjects. She'd rule with an iron fist." Malissa smacked the lunch table with her fist, and taking a quick look around, I saw that many people had taken notice of the argument and were now listening-in on the conversation. They found this ordeal very entertaining.

"Not even close. There can't be an absolute monarchy since she has to share the power with her siblings."

"She's an only child."

"Even then, her power would be limited."

"What would you know about being a princess?!" Malissa screamed. It was clear that she had had enough of the new girl talking back to her, and was going to set her straight… "Are you one? Hm? _Are you a princess_?! No? Well then shut up and sit down before I make you regret it."

"You know, you're more of a dictator than a princess. It's no wonder the people in the school both fear and dislike you." She stated.

Malissa groaned.

"New girl, you are walking on _thin ice_." She warned.

"You've been walking on thin ice since the day of your birth. I see no reason why I should be afraid of falling anytime soon since you've yet to drown in your own actions."

"_Shut up_!" Malissa screamed. The cafeteria went completely silent, and I looked down at her burning red face. The color was close to matching her hair, and she was grinding her teeth. She had stood from her seat and had her fingers spread out on the table, as well as her upper body bent and pushed forward so that she could get closer to the new girl.

"What is the matter with you, new girl? Hasn't anyone ever taught you any manners?"

"Clearly _you've _never learned proper etiquette. Otherwise, you would know that your posture is very unladylike and no male would ever _dream_ of courting you if you had a hunch-back. That's quite unsightly, sweetie." The new girl said.

I looked at her, and saw how there was a smile on her face, while she maintained a serious look in her eyes. It was as if she _knew_ just what her words would do to Malissa, and was planning something devious. I had to say, I was curious as to what it was, but I also didn't want this to continue any further.

Malissa would take her anger out on me, that was for sure, and I wasn't looking forward to her making me do any more tasks. I much rather preferred it when she just had me be near her, and agree with everything that she said.

"What's the matter? Does the truth hurt?"

"You rude little girl." Malissa said. "Someone ought to put you in your place…" Her voice was menacingly low, and it made my skin crawl. For a moment I inhaled deeply in order to calm my nerves.

_She wasn't speaking to me like that… she wasn't speaking to me like that…_

"I know that it most certainly won't be you since you don't even seem to be educated. Honestly, do you _truly _believe that _that's _how you should dress for school? That that's how a _princess_ would dress? Of course you do. After all, you never went to Finishing School like I did, and don't know _a thing _about how to present yourself to society. It's a shame, though. You could be such a pretty girl if your attitude wasn't so ugly."

Malissa growled. _Growled_! It was the first time anyone had ever heard her do such a thing, and I had to say that I was very much stunned silent as I watched her continue to argue with the new girl. It was an entertaining argument, and the new girl was so bold and confident.

She wasn't at all intimidated by Malissa.

_I envied her, so much…_

"Hmph!" Malissa said as she signaled for everyone to stand, and they did. "We're out of here. I won't let my air be tainted by someone so rude as you, _little girl_."

"Ah. I see. You're another one of those airheads who believe that the air can be _tainted_ by a person's actions. Haha!"

Malissa narrowed her eyes, and then looked at me. I flinched as her hard gaze dug into my soul and clawed-out whatever resistance I may have had, and quickly made my way to her side.

"Bunny, what are you doing?" The new girl asked me. But I didn't look at her; I made sure to keep my head low and avoid eye-contact as I began to follow Malissa to the cafeteria's exit.

"Stupid little girl. Bunny is my servant."

"Really? Shouldn't it be the other way around, though?" She asked. Malissa scoffed.

"Of course _you _would be saying that…" She muttered. "Come along Bunny; you have_ a lot_ of things to do since you were absent yesterday." Malissa began to walk to the door of the cafeteria, and I followed. I only stopped when the new girl grabbed onto my wrist and kept me from moving.

"Bunny, you can't go with her. She's unpleasant and you're not dressed for the cold. You'll get sick."

"Slaves are supposed to withstand any and all weather conditions without a piece of clothing. She still has her school uniform on, so there're some advantages there. Now let go of her, you pest." Malissa said.

"No. I refuse to let go of my friend."

"_Friend_? You actually call that _thing _your _friend_?"

"See, that is why you would _never_ be a true princess. Princesses don't have slaves — they're too kind-hearted to make people do so many things for them; the people that tend to them do it because they _want to_ — not because they _have to_." The new girl said.

"Whatever. Release her."

"Not gonna happen. I refuse to let her go with you, you tyrant." At this, Malissa narrowed her eyes as she got closer to the new girl and me. I gulped; hoping that she wouldn't hurt me in some way, somehow…

Malissa groaned and grabbed onto my wrist. She pulled me closer to her, but the new girl pulled back — and stronger.

"_Let go_." Malissa ordered.

"Not going to happen."

"What is with you, hm? Why won't you just listen to what you're being told and be a good little girl and _obey_?" Malissa asked. She once again pulled me, and the new girl pulled me back, again. Only this time, she got me entirely free from Malissa and grasped onto my shoulders to keep me steady.

I looked at her; and was amazed at the look of sheer determination and strength that her eyes currently held. I couldn't believe that she looked that way, because of me. _Because she didn't want to let me go…_

(I felt bad for currently causing her so much strife — but at the same time, was a little flattered that she thought so nicely of me…).

"What the _hell_ is your problem?"

"A princess would not curse like that. How vulgar." The new girl said to Malissa. Malissa's cheeks began to burn red, and she moved forward — probably to try and grab me. The new girl pulled me back, and tripped Malissa. I gasped as I watched her fall. She tripped Malissa…

But I had little time to try and make do with the situation — knowing that I was expected to help Malissa to stand — because the new girl began to pull me away from the scene. As Malissa's group gathered around her, and the cafeteria erupted in conversation, the new girl took me through the back exit of the cafeteria and we went inside of the girl's bathroom. She locked it after checking if anyone was there — it was empty.

I watched as she took in a deep breath, and leaned against the door.

"I'm sorry." She said. "I know that I shouldn't have done that, but… but that girl is just so _infuriating_!" She exclaimed. "I have honestly never met someone like her. Her aura is so dark and gloomy and full of pride —ugh! I was practically _suffocating_." She stated. I remained silent where I stood; in front of the row of sinks that the bathroom held. I wasn't sure how to respond — I was still having a tough time wrapping my mind around the fact that she had tripped Malissa; that she had been so rude to the girl who was practically the queen of the school.

Surely her actions wouldn't go unpunished. Malissa would figure-out some way to get back at her for what she had done.

It would be the worst thing done to any person at the school, and I was upset that I was the cause of it. She was just trying to keep me away from Malissa. I wish that I had stood-up for myself and told her that I _had_ to do this; I had to be Malissa's servant until she forgave me for hurting Tracy…

_But, like always, I was spineless and __weak__…_

I bit my bottom lip and looked-away from her. I could hear the crumbling of something, and then looked-up at her to see another piece of the golden-wrapped candy, in her hand.

"I'm sorry. I know that I've probably caused some problems for you, and I want you to have some more — as a peace offering." She said to me. I was hesitant to taste it, but my mouth was watering as I remembered its spectacular taste. So I grabbed it, and placed my lunch bag down and began to unwrap it.

"I-it's okay…" I said softly. I placed the candy in my mouth, and couldn't help but smile as it spread over my tongue, so deliciously. I really loved it, and couldn't help but want more.

"You know, some people say that this candy has special properties." She said as she ate a piece, herself. I looked at her curiously. What did she mean by that? "They say that it can help a person discover their true selves — isn't that weird?" I tried to smile but placed my hand on the back of my neck as it started to burn a little. "Something the matter?" She asked me.

"My neck." I said softly.

"Is it itching?" She asked. "Here, let me see if there's a bump there or something." I was going to say to her that it was fine — probably just some sort of allergy after-shock or something — but she had already turned me around and was moving my hair away, before it knew it.

I wanted to speak-out, but my voice was trapped in my throat. I couldn't speak. I could feel her touching my neck; directly on the center.

"Your skin…" She said to me, softly. "It is a little warm."

"I-I must s-still be sick…" I said to her. "You p-probably shouldn't be so c-close to me." I said to her.

"Nah. I think I'll be fine. My immune system is really, _really _ effective." She said to me. "If I get sick, it's usually something that is kinda… um… _rare_ — it won't be common." She said. I found this a little weird that she never got sick, but my mom had once mentioned that everyone was different when it came to their health…

"I see…" I said.

"Yeah." She responded. She then sighed and pulled her bangs to the side. She turned her head to look at the locked door, and then looked back at me. "I don't think that girl knows where we are. We should leave and head back upstairs." She said to me.

But I stayed where I stood.

The very thought of going out there, and possibly running into Malissa, scared me stiff. I couldn't possibly come in contact with her. After all, she probably blamed for the new girl's reaction, and would take her frustration out on me.

_I just knew it…_

But I knew that I couldn't stay in the bathroom forever. And as much as my body screamed the opposite, I nodded my head at the new girl and began to follow her out of the bathroom. But I knew that she could tell that I didn't want to. She grabbed onto my hand and held it as we made our way back up the stairs.

"I promise you." She said to me as we went up the second flight of stairs. "That I won't let anything bad happen to you…"

I gulped and looked at her; my mind ringing with curiosity.

"Why?" I asked her. "W-why are you d-doing all of this? W-why are you p-put-ting yourself through s-so much?" I asked it. It was something that was bothering me. Why would she do all of this for me? Why would she put a large arrow on her back and make herself one of Malissa's new targets?

She was already new here — wouldn't that be bad enough? Why is she making this so much worse than they need to be?

She stopped walking, and then turned towards me.

I held my breath.

The look in her eyes was so serious. I had never seen someone's eyes so hard, before. And for a moment, I couldn't believe that look. It seemed to make everything… the truth.

"Because you're my friend, Bunny, and I won't let any harm come to you."

My breath was trapped in my throat at her declaration. I honestly couldn't believe that she said such a thing. Even after how I made no attempt at being her companion in any way since I last saw her… two days ago, she still claimed me as her friend.

_How could she make such a __mistake__?_

"That's…" I finally said. "I-I don't know w-what to say." I slipped my hand out of hers, and looked away from her. I didn't know how to respond. But I knew that I had to tell her that we couldn't be friends. As much as it seemed… nice to have her as a friend, it was impossible.

_I wasn't meant to have friends…_

"No…" I said.

"Bunny?"

"I-I can't." I said to her. "I've c-casued so many p-prob-lems… You being my friend would only make things tougher for you… you have _no idea_ what happens to those kids who almost consider me as a friend — or even a nice person…"

"What happens?"

I gulped.

"Malissa happens."

"Oh, that witch.** (a/n: yeah… "witch"… :])**" The new girl said; scoffing. "What is she going to do to me? Make the kids hate me? Whatever. I don't like any of these kids. They rely too much on her and have no backbone. They're shadows — copies, insignificant." She stated. I felt my mood lower. "But not you, of course. You don't really rely on her as much as you fear her, but let me tell you one thing, Bunny." She surprised me when she grasped both of my hands, in hers. I tightened my hold on my lunch as she did this, and tried not to look away.

Her eyes were very blue. Almost as blue as my mother's. But for a moment, they didn't _look_ blue to me. They seemed to be morphing into a different color…

"You cannot fear this girl, Bunny. She isn't anyone that you should be afraid of, or respect. She is the one that is supposed to treat you like a princess. And do you know why…" I didn't know whether I was listening to her words or not. I suddenly felt very sleepy, as if I hadn't slept for _years_!

"Because, Bunny, you—"

"There you are!"

I jumped in my skin as I heard the voice, and became even more frightened when I saw that it came from Julia. My heart sunk; they'd found us.

"Malissa! They're over here!" She shouted. Her voice was so loud… it'd be impossible _not _to hear her.

The look on her face _screamed_ that something bad was to come. And as much as I wanted to run away and see if I could escape it, I was frozen in my spot. But the new girl wasn't. She grabbed me and began to pull me, and by the time I realized this, we were already on the fourth floor.

She ran us into Mrs. Brooksteen's room, and Mrs. Brooksteen raised an eyebrow at us as we entered.

"We were in a rush." The new girl said; her hand still firmly clasped against my own. Mrs. Brooksteen seemed like she was about to ask, but then she sighed and went back to eating her lunch. I was glad she didn't ask for more reasoning…

The new girl then began to walk to the back of the room. She finally let go of my hand when we reached our desks, and sat down. She seemed a little upset…

I wanted to ask her what was wrong, but knew that it wasn't my place. I glanced at the clock, and decided that it was too late to eat my lunch. So I put it back in my backpack, and decided that I would have it as a snack once I got home.

As I retook my seat, I heard the new girl sigh and glanced at her. She was holding another piece of candy in her hand.

"I'm sorry." She said. "I think—_know_ that I just made things worse for you. I wasn't trying, honest. I just… I don't like seeing you look so defeated. That girl is nothing but a false princess — a wannabe. I don't think you should be afraid, and I'm sorry that I didn't get my point across exactly as I wanted. But I won't stop trying to be your friend. Why? Because, I know that you need a friend…" She said, softly. "Otherwise you'll be miserable and you _don't deserve to be miserable_. You're a sweet girl Bunny, honest, and you should have more friends than that girl. But until that time comes, I'm happy to help you out by giving you your first true, honest-to-goodness friendship." She said to me.

I was speechless. And despite the growing noise in the classroom, I was able to surprisingly hear all of my messy thoughts as I tried to register what she had just said to me.

I was still amazed that, even after all this, she was still set on trying to be my friend. And while I wanted to accept the candy (my taste buds were tingling), I shook my head. Accepting it would mean that I would start considering her as a friend. And that was not something that I could do.

_Having friends causes more problems than __not__ having friends…_

So I refused, and began to set-up my things to get ready for English class. I wasn't sure of the new girl's response, since I didn't look at her for the rest of the day.

Eye-contact was now dangerous.

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><p>.<p>

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><p>No mercy.<p>

Malissa didn't hold back on me, at all, as she berated me for what the new girl had done at lunch, that day. She had backed me up into a corner inside of the school (in a staircase that people rarely used), and had her friends guard the area while she pushed me against the wall and yelled at me.

I was shaking, and my eyes were closed. I was biting my bottom lip so harshly that I eventually tasted blood. But as frightened as I was, and as much as I suffered when she continued to scream at me and pull me forward, only to slam me back on the hard wall and make me hurt my head (I was certain that by now I was probably bleeding, but was sure not to cry-out), I made sure to not try to defend myself.

_That would just make her angrier…_

My ears were ringing, and I could barely hear what she was saying. But the fear was there. It was in my stomach, my heart, my mind, and as much as I knew I shouldn't, I tried to push her away from me.

As I suspected, she got angrier and began to pull me by my hair. It hurt so much, and I bit down on my lip even _harder_ to stop myself from screaming-out. She pulled with both of her hands twisted into my hair, and even used her foot to keep me back against the wall so that she could pull on my hair even harder.

I couldn't help it, and began to cry. She liked this, and pulled harder and harder.

"This is why you don't try to make friends. You see what they do? Friends hurt you Bunny, and they cause nothing but problems. I know that you must've felt _happy_ that that blonde little girl wanted to be your friend, but are you still happy Bunny? Are you still glad that she wants to be your _friend_!" She pulled my hair harder and I screamed more loudly.

"Stop crying! Slaves are supposed to take anything and _everything_ their master dishes-out!" She used her knee to kick me in my gut and I felt the wind get knocked-out of me.

Then she stopped pulling my hair, only to grab my glasses. When the world became somewhat of a blur to me, I panicked and reached-out for them, frantically. My fingers always got close, but she pushed me back before I could even touch them. I was certain that she was smiling at my distress.

"No way. Until you get that new girl to back-off, you're _not_ getting these back, _Slave_." She said, calling me by that awful nickname. I reached-out again, but she slapped my hand, harshly, and I retracted it.

"B-but h-h-how?" I asked her through my pain and tears. "S-she w-w-won't stop. S-she's t-t-too… p-p-er-sistant…" I said; wiping at my face with the sleeves of my winter sweater.

"Ugh." Malissa groaned; I easily recognized the disgusted tone laced into it. "You look worse than you normally would. Honestly, I envy the blind because they won't _ever_ be able to see that hideous face of yours. You sad, sad little creature…"

Her words stung, but I was used to being insulted… So I held back the painful feeling in my heart and tried to catch my breath. There was a dull ache in my head…

"Now, do as I say and go tell that new girl that you can't be her friend. You never will be, and you never have been. Tell her that she's making a _huge_ mistake, and then walk away." She said.

"I already have!" I cried, and immediately placed my hand over my mouth as I realized that I yelled at her. I expected her to get angry, but she didn't harm me, again.

"Then do it again. And again. And again — until she gets the picture." Malissa said; twirling my glasses in her hand. "Now go. She's probably waiting for you somewhere…" Malissa said; a look of displeasure on her face.

I wanted to say that I couldn't see without my glasses, but I knew that she knew this, very well. So I nodded my head and was careful as I walked back up to the fourth floor, and found the new girl waiting outside of the classroom. She, like everyone else, was dressed to go home. But she hadn't left — and I had a feeling she was waiting for me.

She spotted me, and smiled at me. She was so nice, and I felt bad about what I was going to do. But Malissa had my glasses, and I didn't want to get hurt anymore.

So I told her. I told her, again, that we couldn't be friends.

She smiled at me, when I finished, and whispered into my ear, "I know she's making you do this. Don't worry, I promise you that, one day, you'll no longer have to fear her. Trust me, Bunny." She said. Then she slipped something into my hand, and walked away. I looked down at what she gave me; a bright-red-colored bag that held a see-through panel. It was _full_ of that candy that she kept giving me.

I looked back so that I could return it, but my myopia made it impossible to see her. And even as I chased after her, she was gone. She had left…

I sighed and looked down at the bag; my mouth watering.

"What are those?" I gasped when Malissa grabbed the bag from my hand. I had forgotten that she was waiting for me at the end of the hallway; watching with high hopes that the new girl would yell at me or something.

She looked at the bag of candy, and frowned.

"She gave you _candy_? Uh-uh—no. You can't keep these. From now on, anything that she gives you is mine and mine alone." She said; putting the bag of candy inside of her backpack.

It was then that I softly said, "M-my g-g-glasses…"

She rolled her eyes and threw them at me. I tried to catch them, but they landed on the ground a few feet away. I rushed to grab them. Bringing them closer to my face, I saw that they were cracked and felt my heart sink. My mom had just bought these for me a month ago — what is she gonna say when I tell her that she has to buy me _another_ new pair of glasses?

"T-th-they—"

"Come on. You still have work to do, Slave." She said to me. I gulped and bit back my tears as I nodded my head, and placed the broken glasses on my face.

_I was a miserable creature…_

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><p>Walking down the path to my house, I was wiping my tears away as I continued to cry. Like always, Malissa chose to humiliate me in public. This time choosing to dress me in male clothes and reveal me as being female, once a large-enough crowd of girls had gathered around — wanting to meet the male that <em>Malissa Johanson<em> was being with.

It ended-up with me being called the ugliest girl — the most male of all males of the school. And it was humiliating. I dreaded returning to school tomorrow.

"Hey." I gasped and looked, wide-eyed, at the new girl as she got-up from the footsteps that were before my front door. I felt the urge to run and tell her to get away from me. I didn't want anyone possibly seeing me with her, and reporting it to Malissa.

(As rare as I knew that this was, I couldn't risk it. Not after what she'd done to me, that day).

"W-w-w-wha—"

"I got rid of all of those pictures. Those girls were all fools; giving their phones to a stranger. Don't worry though, I just deleted them all and then gave them back. There's absolutely no photographic evidence of what happened, today." She said as she stood and walked over to me. I looked at her; she grabbed a handkerchief from somewhere and used it to wipe my eyes. "I promised you I wouldn't let anything bad happen to you, and I mean it. You really don't deserve this Bunny…" She said.

My eyes watered, and as much as I tried to hold it back, I began to cry. She pulled me in and held me while I cried. And I let it happen. I was too emotionally exhausted.

_I just wanted the day to be over…_

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><p>.<p>

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><p>In working on this chapter, I discovered many things. Mainly, that I can write a full chapter in a week… I guess this means that my updates will be faster since I don't have an excuse, anymore. Although, my weekends will mainly be dedicated to my artwork since I have Art History and I don't wanna fail it (it's difficult). Yeah. And I know that I promised that we'd learn what was in the box, but I decided to put it off until later. It'll be opened, eventually, I promise. But what do you think of the newly-introduced character? I've been kinda obsessed with her, for a while now — I love the layout I have for her. She's gonna be a <em>huge<em> help in some progress in later chapters.

Next chapter: It's Saturday! Bunny is left home alone, and all is calm and peaceful until she gains a little visitor. Hm… I wonder who it could be? :)

Xoxoxo Chibi Star Vamp


	7. Visitor

Hello all. This chapter was rewritten so many times — especially the first flashback. I wanted it to be a continuation of the last, but then I thought why not add a bit more on her personality and duties and such and _then_ get to the medical stuff? I dunno. All I know is that I'm finally satisfied with the opening, and am looking forward to including her older version, later on. Any who, I hope you all enjoy this chapter! It's a bit short, but very important since it introduces some very significant details to the story.

I own _everything_!

As always, a little flashback is included as the first part to the story. This will, of course, be the start of each chapter until a certain point...

Enjoy!

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><p>"<em>Chichi-ue…" Bunko said as she entered the room.<em>

_It was a large meeting room that contained a very large, oval-shaped table that held many seats. Nearly every seat was filled with the heads of the different divisions of the castle. She could recognize some very important security figures that had surely been called to speak of the events that had taken place._

_It was found that not only was the youngest member of the family kidnapped, but fourteen guards have gone missing._

"_Bunko." Ikoroku said from his position at the head of the table._

"_Forgive me for the unannounced intrusion and the rudeness of it, but I have come across some information that I simply could not hold to speak of until later." She stated as she took a seat opposite her father, at the other head of the table. Normally, this seat would be for her older brother, but in the rare occasions where she was the one to attend these meetings, she would be the one seated in the large, black leather chair._

_A situation like the current one._

"_I both understand and see this. There is no need to ask for forgiveness." Ikoroku said. "What is it that you must reveal?"_

"_As you all know, approximately three days ago, the youngest heirs of both Animetra and Mangametra, were kidnapped. Since then, we have been uncertain of how it was that the perpetrators gained entrance into the castle — until today." Ikoroku's eyes widened slightly._

"_You found their entry point?"_

"_Yes and no." Bunko said._

"_Explain."_

"_Of course." She said. "The entry point is a portal — this I learned from one of the guards spotting it. The portal is unstable and is moving from location to location in a random pattern, making it impossible to track."_

"_Then figure-out a way to track it down already!" Exclaimed one of the many males seated at the sides of the table. "That portal can be our one-way-ticket to the bastards that did this!"_

"_Silence." Ikoroku said; giving the male a stern glare._

_The male settled down, and Bunko continued._

"_The problem, sir, is that it is impossible to track. The portal appears and disappears in a millisecond, and had the guard been blinking when he saw it, he surely would have missed it. I have come here not only to tell you this, but also to ask for the funding necessary to create sensors that will pick-up on the energy signatures of the portal, and hopefully stabilize it enough to allow someone to go through and see what is on the other side."_

"_Why do you need to ask?" Ikoroku said. "You know that you have open use of the funds needed to support any of your projects, Bunko."_

"_That is another thing. Imouto-chan's inheritance must be frozen until she is found. If that portal truly does lead to those who have captured her, I believe that they will use it to gain entrance into the castle, once again. If they did not need it, they would have dispelled it in order to cover their tracks. The portal is still here and moving in a very convenient area…" She paused as she placed her sleek, black laptop on the table. She activated it quickly, hacking into the room's electronic functions, and in the center of the table appeared a hologram._

_It was of the castle, and as she typed in coordinates, small red dots appeared._

"_These are the locations where others have spotted the portal since the guard took notice of it." She said to the people in the room. "As you can see, it is moving about where the treasury is. We are all aware that this entire area is one of the most expensive in the castle — a giant safe held on an entire floor. If that portal manages to get into one of the rooms, there is no telling how much will be taken away, and with the crisis, now is not the time to be experiencing a shortage in funds." She said._

"_I ask for permission because of this reason, Chichi-ue." She said as she locked her rainbow-specked eyes with her father's purple ones; the very eyes that matched those of her beloved baby sister… (She wondered if it's killed him or her mother, the past three days, to look into his eyes…). "I have planned many things, and the amount of money needed will surely not be something that can be replaced easily. I do not want to be the cause of poverty in the northern countries." She said._

"_I am certain that will not occur." Ikoroku said. "I have faith that you will avoid this problem, Bunko."_

_She nodded._

"_Onagi-heika, I have a rebuttal." Said a female. She was seated on the left side of the table, and Bunko recognized her as her brother's battle teacher. Despite her appearance, she was quite the fierce woman, and also held a position as the commander to one of the armies in the eastern land. "I trust in Onagi-no-kimi as much as anyone else, and I want to bring back Onagi-hidenka, but if this… project of hers is going to eat away at the funding for countries, what are we to do if the project fails? I know that Onagi-no-kimi is brilliant and that the odds of any of her inventions or plans failing are incredibly low, but even __she__ is stating that there is a possibility of those countries suffering through harsh times because of this by asking for your permission before she goes into the treasury, Onagi-heika." She said. "Maybe… perhaps this is not the way to go about this?"_

"_What do you suggest we do as an alternate?" Ikoroku asked._

"_I am just playing Devil's Advocate, but due to the fact that she already has points plotted, and knows of the general area where the portal is appearing, perhaps she __can__ track it?" She turned her head to look at the young girl. "I know that you have already stated that it is impossible to track, but I believe that you can do it, Onagi-no-kimi."_

_Bunko gave the woman a gentle smile._

"_I am working on such a thing, at the moment, with the help of my assistants, but I still believe that a few tracking devices placed around the area will make the process easier. The only reason I have this data is because of those devices. However, the ones I currently have are insufficient. Just like the Mirage placed on the Western area of the castle that hid the assault and disappearance of the Western Guards—"_

"_What?!" The same man from before shouted._

"_General, I am asking you once again to be __silent__." Ikoroku said harshly. His eyes were turning a little red. Since the day his little girl had disappeared, he was on edge. While he was considered somewhat of a master, it was still difficult for him to control his abilities when his mind wasn't in the right place. Bunko knew that she needed to find a way to keep him calm, and fast, or risk another crisis. "You are to not speak unless your opinion is asked."_

_The man grumbled, but sat back down._

_Ikoroku turned to his daughter. "Continue."_

"_As I was saying, similar to the Mirage that hid the disappearance of the Western Guards, the portal holds a high amount of Chi in it. It is so high that it has destroyed each one of my trackers after it was able to record the information of its location. After some calculation and checking the frequency of the Chi used, I have quickly sketched a plan for a device that will not be destroyed when it comes in contact with the portal." On her laptop, she found a different file and the hologram showed a new image. It was of a small, circular device. _

"_This tracker can only work if it is made of very specific components. All of which can be made artificially, but I learned the more-difficult way that artificial can only be a good replacement every once in a while." Bunko said. "The true material needed is quite rare, and while I have found a reliable supplier, it will not be inexpensive."_

"_How many of them do you need?" Her father asked._

"_I will need twenty — one to be placed in each hallway and each door that is in that area, as well as a few extra. Thankfully the trackers will have a high range when it comes to their sensory, and if it were not for this reason, the count would have been much, much higher." She said._

"_You are granted the requests for funding." Ikoroku said. "Is there anything else that you would like to bring to my attention?" To this, his daughter nodded._

"_I would like to leave the castle and head to Mangametra for a few weeks. I not only wish to check on the conditions of both the heirs present there, but would also like to learn of their progress. While they will most likely be separated, both Imouto-chan and Itorashi-otouto-hidenka were taken by the same people, and are surely in the same place. Working together, we can learn of the last place that they were together, and work from there." She stated._

"_I am afraid that I have to deny this request."_

"_Chichi-ue?"_

"_There is still a State of Emergency. The only reason that you were allowed inside the planet was because your vehicle was recognized. I am afraid, however, that you cannot leave until not only I, but also my brother agrees that it is safe to allow Galactic Travel, once again."_

"_I respect your decision. However, I will be in contact with those from East Mangametra Castle." She said._

"_Very well. I believe your plan in working together is the best that we can do. With our combined forces, I am certain that it will not be long before both children are recovered." _

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><p>.<p>

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><p>Animetra Princess<p>

_**Chapter 6: Visitor**_

***By Chibi Star Vamp***

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><p>.<p>

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><p>I couldn't help but to be petrified with fear as I watched it move across the wooden top of the small, rectangular table that was in my living room, and in front of the television.<p>

My eyes were glued onto a small, metallic… _thing_. I wasn't really sure what it was. All I knew was that it looked like some sort of ladybug. Its body was round, and it seemed to have antennae coming out of its small head that were currently touching the wooden surface of the table — as if it was searching for something. It had six metallic legs beneath it that it used to move, and its eyes, I saw, were a bright red color. Its body was painted red with black dots on it, and I could see a seam down the center of its back. The rest of its body — its head, legs, and antennae — was black.

From a distance, I'd think it was a ladybug — if it weren't for the fact that it was far too _big_ to be a ladybug!

I honestly couldn't believe what I was looking at.

I sat there on the recliner, a bowl of cereal and milk resting inside the space created by my crossed legs, and the spoon that I was using to eat it, still in my hand. My eyes were wide and my mouth still open (I was about to take-in some more cereal when I spotted the metallic bug on the table).

I was literally frozen.

From what exactly, I wasn't sure. But I knew that it had to be a mixture of various things; shock, surprise, disbelief, amazement, and then a small tinge of fear.

The bug crawled around the table. Its legs and antennae touched every area that it was headed towards, as well as the surrounding area. When it reached something like the TV remote it stopped to feel it all over. Over each button, and everything that made the TV remote the TV remote, it touched each section.

Then it stopped at the side and turned it around. It got on top of the remote and then raised its top left leg. It began to... unscrew the top of the remote, and once its insides were completely exposed, something came out of the top of one of its spots and connected to the remote.

W-what… what was it doing?

A few seconds later, it was putting the remote back together and moved on to the next thing. I watched as it did the same to the phone that I had left on the table — it seemed to be greatly attracted by electronic products.

I gulped, and the thing stopped what it was doing. It turned around and seemed to be looking directly at me. Then it rushed off of the table.

It was then that I became animated.

I quickly stood from the recliner with my bowl of cereal in hand, and rushed out of the room. Since I considered it a safe haven, I quickly headed upstairs to my room. I got inside and closed the door with my free hand.

I gulped down and inhaled. I had rushed up here so quickly that I'd forgotten to breathe for a moment. Exhaling and inhaling deeply, I tried to collect all my thoughts.

_What did I just see? Did I really just see a metallic bug?_

It was something out of a science fiction movie. I honestly couldn't believe that I had just watched some sort of robotic insect crawling across my living room table and hooking onto the electronics that were there, and doing something to them.

It was shocking.

And I didn't know what to do about it because I still wasn't sure whether or not it had actually happened. I mean… it could very easily have been a hallucination. Since my allergies had acted up a few days ago, I haven't been feeling one-hundred percent lately. I could very easily have just been imagining that creature doing those things to my TV remote and home phone.

But even _that_ sounded ridiculous to me.

My allergy-aftermath never led to hallucinations before. So why would it start now?

I exhaled to further-calm myself and began to head towards my bed. On my way there, I paused to go to my dresser and place my bowl of cereal there. I placed my cereal on the dresser and was headed back to my bed when I spotted it.

I paused in my movements as I saw the robotic creature from before, scurry into my room. It didn't seem to notice me and quickly hid itself beneath my bed.

Was that where it came from?

Knowing that I had to investigate what was going on, I swallowed down the fear bubbling in my stomach and let my curiosity take over. I slowly and silently headed over to my bed. I got down on my knees and raised the skirt of it and peeked inside. My eyes widened.

There it was. The little robot insect was beneath my bed, and standing in front of a screen. I watched as the same thing from before came out of one of its spots and connected to the screen. The screen turned on and showed a weird symbol before an image of a little girl appeared on it.

The little girl looked to be metallic, as well, like a little robotic doll. She had silver metal skin. Large, orb-like ponytails on the top side of her head, bolts in certain places, and large eyes that didn't hold any pupils in them, and a mouth. She looked anatomically correct to me, and even spoke with a small girl's voice, but a bit robotic.

"**What have you learned?" **She asked the robotic creature.

Images began to appear on the screen. They showed outlines of things like the TV remote and phone, as well as some kitchen appliances. There were also pictures of the bathroom, kitchen, living room, and the rooms of both my mother and I. That thing had been snooping around all over my house…

The little robotic girl looked through all of them. She picked-up the digital files as if they were nothing but paper. And they took on more realistic qualities as she read over them; crinkling in her hands and such.

"**Hm… the information that you have gathered is useful — it tells us the workings of this world and how primitive Earth still is — but I do not think it is what we are supposed to find." **

The bug moved back a little; it looked to be sad.

"**It is useless to sadden yourself, B.B. — the information you have gathered is helpful. It is helping me to better picture our new environment, and a more effective way of how we should best handle the situation." **The robotic girl said. **"However, what we truly need is information on the young Earth girl — her likes, dislikes, interests, hobbies, and possibly her medical files. The report given to us did state that the elder Earth female living in this house is a medical professional and is the one to care for the young girl. Search for any files pertaining to her health."**

I silently gulped. What did they want with me?

The robot seemed to nod its head. The little girl smiled down at it; her hands pressed up against the screen and her body leaning against it. It was like the only thing between her and the robot was a simple piece of glass and not an entire electronic system.

"**Good, now, onto a new task. The report stated that there were images here that resemble those of the North castle and its family among the belongings of the young Earth female — you must search for those since they are of top priority."**

I grew confused.

What was she talking about?

But I didn't have much time to think about it as the thing attached to the side of the screen removed itself and went back inside one of the spots on the bug. The bug seemed ready to turn-off the screen when the robotic girl looked up. Her eyes widened and she gasped.

"**B.B., the Earth girl!" **She exclaimed. She pointed in my direction and the robot turned around. I was frozen for a moment as it got closer to me. In my rushed movements to get out from under my bed and hurry to a place that could provide some sort of protection for me, I bumped my head against the underside of my bed and stopped moving for a moment to place my hand on the bump.

"**Please, wait." **I heard. I looked at the screen and watched as the girl displayed on it placed her hands together. **"Do not go — do not be frightened. We mean you no harm." **I shook my head frantically; denying her words. But she was persistent and continued to speak. **"Please, if you would allow me to do as such, I shall explain everything." **I was hesitant to hear her, but I wouldn't deny that I wanted an explanation.

There had been a bug crawling around my house, and picking-up information on my mom and I, and the house. How it and the girl got here, and why, was definitely something that I wanted to know.

_What was their purpose? What were they planning?_

I was frightened to know, but with the way that the girl spoke to me, it didn't seem as if she was trying to hurt me. She even offered to explain the situation. But I, from my experience with Malissa and the others, knew not to completely let my guard down whenever an explanation was being given.

_Explanations were not always a good thing…_

I tentatively nodded my head at her. She smiled and then said, **"B.B., Hologram Mode." **The ladybug robot got onto the tablet and then did something that made it turn off. As it was headed my way, I moved back and got from under my bed. I couldn't help it as I immediately jumped onto my bed when I caught sight of the bug — I was deathly afraid of them.

Not only because of the fact that it was a bug, but because I had no idea what it could do. In those movies, the smallest of devices were capable of killing you in an instant. I had to constantly be on guard.

I watched its movements with calculating eyes as the bug stopped on the floor, and then moved aside its wings, revealing the rest of the top of its body. A thing stream of light then appeared from it, and then it began to slowly expand until it opened like a fan; but its three-dimensional shape made it more cone-like than a simple curved triangle. Then on the soft-blue-colored cone slowly appeared a new image in the very center of it. I was surprised to see what could've been a life-size image of the robot girl. It was… a hologram — just like in the movies…

_Unbelievable…_

Now that I could see her more closely, I saw that the robotic girl's body was structured and colored differently to make it seem as if she were wearing clothing. Her chest was flat, but a bit more lifted than the rest of her, and it was colored blue. Around her hips was something that looked like a skirt with different sections of it isolated a little bit from the next piece; it was also colored blue. Her legs were also structured differently to give the appearance that she was wearing shoes.

Overall, she was very pretty. And judging by the way she bowed as she introduced herself, she was also very polite.

"**Allow me to introduce myself." **The robotic girl said to me. **"While I have no true name and only a serial number, I have been informed that I shall be called '**_**Tentouchuu'**_**, or '**_**Ten'**_** as an effort to save time. The robot with me is abbreviated as **_**B.B. **_**for '**_**Bug Bot'**_**." **She said. **"We are representatives of our planet, sent here to care for the young Earth female who we have taken an interest in."**

"U-um… hello…" I said; unsure of what to say.

"**May I please know your name?" **She asked me as she swiped her hand across the light-blue wall and a panel appeared around her that was outlined by glowing white light. It was circular and orbited around the area of her chest; she placed her hands on it, as if she were ready to type something. **"For the purpose of confirmation, I must enter your information into a database in order to ensure that a mistake has not been made. This is only a safety precaution."**

I wasn't sure whether I should answer with my name or not. My mom had always warned me about giving my information to a stranger — albeit never a stranger such as this girl. But there seemed to be a higher threat when it came to her; what with she being not human and all that — yet…

I heaved a sigh.

It was just my name. What harm could come from that? Surely I wasn't the only female who used _'Bunny' _as their identity. She wouldn't be able to harm me through that, would she?

"B-bunny…" I said. "My n-name is Bunny."

"**Full name, please."**

I paused once again. My name full name — now that, I knew, could lead to danger. The amount of females named _'Bunny Sánchez'_ in the world was surely less than those named _'Bunny'_. By giving her my full name, it would be easier to cause me harm. But then again, why would she harm me? I haven't done anything to hurt her, and it's not as if I pose any sort of threat. But… giving her my full name…

I gulped and fisted the material of my pajama shirt, tightly, while I spoke to her — having made my decision.

_I hope this won't lead to anything bad…_

"B-bunny Sánchez."

She nodded. I watched as she swiped her fingers across the screen and odd symbols appeared. Then a piece of paper appeared next to her, and she stared at it for a moment before looking back at me.

"**I also need your age, height, weight, blood type—"**

"E-excuse me." I said as she began to list the basics of a medical record; making my nervousness grow even more than it once had, along with my fear over the situation. "B-but why d-d-do you need to know a-all this? I t-thought you were g-going to tell me w-why you were here…"

"**I will, but the information is only meant for the girl that I was assigned to oversee, and I must first confirm that you are her. So, please, would you answer my questions? It makes this process go much faster." **

I was still skeptical, but I followed along. I answered her questions easily enough, and she entered them all in. Then the panel went away, and an envelope appeared in front of her a few moments later. She touched it, and what looked to be a letter appeared in front of her. She smiled, hit the paper so that it spun, and then the hologram came at me.

I moved back, but stopped when the paper transformed into something else. It changed into the shape of a head, still maintaining its paper-like texture, with words written on it in gold ink. From certain areas that were indentified for the eyes, appeared a pair of eyes that looked white, but with colorful specks in them.

"**Greetings." **It said; its paper-mouth moving and surprising me. **"This document provides passage into North Animetra Castle for the following person: **_**Bunny S**_**ánchez of the planet Earth. It is authorized by Princess Onagi Bunko Yukitsuki, and is to be of use for only one day before the first of January." **The letter then regained its usual form and disappeared. I blinked and looked at the young robotic girl.

"U-um… e-excuse me…" I said as I looked towards the robot girl. "W-what exactly d-does this mean?" I asked her.

"**It means that you, Bunny Sánchez, have been approved for learning the following piece of information: you, along with four other Earth females, will travel to the planet of Animetra in the Byoga Galaxy, to participate in an exam that will declare one of you, or neither of you, as the youngest princess of Animetra." **My eyes widened. My breath was taken away.

"P-princess…" I repeated. She nodded. "T-that's _insane_!" I shouted as I stood from my bed, and stopped in front of the hologram. "I-I d-d-d-d-don't mean to be rude or anything but… but… I c-c-can't be a princess."

"**No one is saying that you ****are**** the princess — that letter is stating is that there is a possibility that you ****could**** be the princess." **She stated; most likely trying to calm me. But it did no such thing. It only made me more frantic. Me… possibly be a princess? That's the most ridiculous thing I ever heard.

"H-how?" I asked. "H-how could p-p-possibly come to t-that conclusion?"

"**You, among many other Earth females, give-off an ethereal signature reminiscent to that of beings not from this current planet. As such, Scouts have been watching you and determining whether you are worth further evaluating — for you see, while you have the signature, it would be useless to waste our efforts on you if you are just another descendant from Earth back in its glory days."**

"**Many females have been eliminated from the list of potential suspects for being the princess. The list shrunk from two-hundred young girls with inhumane power dormant in their bodies, to five with the best chance at being the princess. You, Bunny Sánchez, are the final female to join that group. As such, you will be taken to the home planet of the princess where you, along with the other four girls, will be tested. Once all of the testing is completed, the search will either be another failure, or the success that has been prayed for." **

I was shocked.

Everything that she was telling me was hard to grasp onto. I was a candidate for being a princess — and not from this planet, by the looks of it, which was what made this situation crazier.

She was telling me that, out there, somewhere, there was a planet with life on it that was looking for its princess, and that _I _apparently had something inside of me that made her think that I was possibly that princess. It was insane, absolutely ridiculous, and I couldn't help but pinch myself to see if I was dreaming all of this up.

_The odds that something like this was __real__ were—_

"Ouch." I winced lightly at my pinch, and looked down at where my arm had begun to turn a light shade of red. I then looked-up, and found myself staring at the hologram girl, once again. This… was really happening, wasn't it?

"I… I…"

"**I realize that this is a lot to take in. From our studying of you, it has been declared that you live a somewhat calm life with little excitement. The stimulation that you ****do**** receive comes from a rather dominant Earth female at your place of learning. This, I assume, is a much different situation that that, and your mind is struggling to comprehend it." **I nodded. **"That is alright. It is not as if now is when you will be taken to Animetra. You will be given seven days to prepare for your departure, starting tomorrow. After which, you and the two Scouts that have helped you to go on to the next and final level of testing, will take you to Animetra, along with the other four girls and you will all remain there for three days as you go through the final stages of confirmation."**

I shook my head at this.

"No…" I said.

"**Excuse me?" **

"No, no, no!" I exclaimed. "I… I can't — I _won't_!" I placed my hand over my mouth at my outbursts, feeling bad about screaming so loudly at her when it definitely wasn't her fault. A few moments later, I stuttered out an apology before explaining myself. "I-I mean… I c-c-can't leave my m-mom…" I said softly to her.

"**The other Earth female that resides in this abode — the elder one, I believe. Yes… she would most likely be placed in a deep sleep during the time of your absence. I do believe that three days of sleep — or less — will not do much harm." **

"I c-can't let you d-do that. I can't j-just leave my m-mom here, s-sleeping and g-going o-off some place I d-don't want to for s-something I'm not." I said.

"**I do not mean to sound rude, but I am afraid that you do not have a choice." **She placed her arm out in front of her, and a whole appeared in it. From the whole began to grow a large ball of lit; it glowed brightly.

My eyes widened.

Was this the part where I got attacked and possibly died from the blow? I couldn't help but try to cover myself with my arms as this thought entered my mind — but I had no time to react.

A large blast of white came from it and hit me. I gasped as the light wrapped around my neck. I, on reflex, reached-up to touch it and tried to pry it off of me. But it burned my fingers as I touched it, and I screamed. Opening my eyes in pain, I found myself looking down at the girl while she got farther away as I was raised off of the ground. I could feel myself chocking.

I… was dying.

I gasped for breath, and continued to search for a way to get out of the situation, but I found none. I could feel myself wanting to cry. But I was released before the first tear-drop fell. I slammed down and bounced on my bed until I had come to a stop; my hand touched my neck as I breathed harshly.

Beneath my slightly-burned fingertips, was the feeling of a cool metal. Shocked, I got off of my bed and ran to my bedroom mirror. There, I couldn't believe what I saw.

There was some sort of collar around my neck. It was metallic, and held so sign of how it opened or closed. There was a single red jewel on it that then turned green. Then there was a beeping sound, and I felt it dig into my neck. But it didn't choke me. Instead, I watched, horrified, as it sank deeper into my skin; as if melding into it.

Once it was completely gone, I turned my fright-filled eyes onto the robot girl.

"_What did you do to me_?!" I shouted. I didn't care that I had raised my voice. All thoughts of being quiet and polite had left my mind as soon as I watched that alien contraption disappear into my body. My hand was constantly on my neck, rubbing the skin there and somewhat hoping that I could coax it out and then get rid of this girl and hope to return to a normal life.

But it wouldn't happen. I couldn't even feel its metallic structure beneath my skin…

"**Now that you are one of the five remaining candidates of Earth, you must be kept on constant watch, for we cannot have anything happening to you. I cannot have you running away at any moment. That choker has embedded itself into your body to not only allow me to monitor your health status, but also keep track of you. If I see that you are headed anywhere out of the ordinary, B.B. and I will come and get you and ensure that you not go there ever again, until after the remaining tests have been completed." **She said to me.

"_But I'm not the princess_!" I screamed at her. "P-please, t-take it off… please…" I begged, feeling tears slowly falling down my cheeks as the situation started to affect me more.

"**Forgive me, but it is out of my hands. The situation is far greater than you believe it to be. There are many parts to it that you will learn of, later on, when you are introduced to those that will proctor the exam."**

"No! I w-won't be introduced to anyone and I'm _not going anywhere_!" I shouted. "I-isn't there a w-way for me to p-p-prove to you that I c-can't be this princess of y-yours?" I asked.

She was silent for a moment; hopefully thinking it over. During this time, my hand remained on my neck, trying to feel for the metal that had disappeared there. But when it dawned on me that I could accidentally hit something that might make it explode, and thus kill me, I removed my hand and instead dug it into the comforter of my bed.

Finally she answered me.

"**I believe so… if a modified version of the test is performed on you before the seven days that mark your arrival at Animetra, finish. I am incapable of administering it, but one of the Scouts that are near you, are." **

"G-great!" I exclaimed. "P-please t-t-t-tell me who they a-are…" I wanted to prove that I wasn't this princess that they were looking for, so that I can get rid of this thing that went inside of me, and hopefully get rid of her and this entire situation, as well. I simply couldn't handle this right now. I was already frightened to death and I didn't even want to _think _about what could happen if I followed along…

The girl paused for a moment as she pulled-up a new screen. It was smaller and more rectangular than the last, and she only used the fingertips of her right hand to touch it. I watched as small pulse waves appeared beneath her fingers as she did this.

Moments later, she seemed to find what she was looking for, and looked at me.

"**They are: Blanc, Mikaela and Brooksteen, Jenrette."**

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><p>.<p>

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><p>I am <em>so glad I rewrote this<em>! I mean, I wasn't too happy with how Bunny was chosen to be the princess in the original. It seemed a bit unrealistic. And then this idea of her being a part of a group of five girls that are tested to be the princess, popped into my head and I'm like yaaaasss! I gotta do that! So what do you guys think of this chapter? Short, but necessary, because now the real action starts.

Next chapter: Knowing that Mrs. Brooksteen and Mickey are involved in the situation, Bunny confronts them both at school. New details on the search for the princess, revealed!

Please review!

Xoxoxo Chibi Star Vamp


	8. Deal

Hello. As you all are probably able to tell, this story _will_ be getting to the exciting parts, very soon. This first arc is slowly coming to a close, and that means that I'm debating whether to allow things to be told in Bunny's point-of-view, or third person point-of-view with every now and then, it being told in a character's point-of-view. I dunno. I'm still not sure. It _also_ means that a bunch of new characters and events will be introduced. I've re-designed all of my characters, given them some very interesting back-stories, and have planned-out their personalities and hobbies and stuff, more. So, yeah, it's gonna be good!

I own _everything_.

Enjoy!

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><p><em>She was riding an old, Victorian carriage that had belonged to the Onagi Family for centuries. It was beautiful with its hand-created parts, and time had not seemed to age it. It was still as new as ever with its stained brown body, and reinforced wheels. The interior had remained untouched, and on the inside still hung four lamps that were stuck to the wall, and constantly lit. The current flames were protected wholly by the curvaceous glass that housed them, and they bathed the inside of the carriage in a soft light.<em>

_Outside the carriage sat a driver, and two attendants that were behind four perfectly white horses that were helping it to move forward at the pace needed. But they were not alone. Those four horses were joined by another set of horses, black in color, that were being ridden by guards dressed in armor, as they formed a diamond around the carriage. One guard stationed directly in front of the entire carriage, seeming to guide the horses in the right direction. One guard was stationed to the left, another to the right, and the final was behind the carriage._

_It would ensure maximum protection for the occupants._

_Inside this heavily-guarded carriage was a woman. She sat down on the hand-woven seat covers that laid atop the couch that had been built in there, and placed against the back of the carriage. Her back was angled forward a little as she looked down at what lay between her hands._

_One of her legs was resting atop the other, and perfectly showed-off how much the fabric of the burgundy dress that she was currently wearing, flowed. It was a beautiful gown, made of material so soft and loose that it was perfect for the summer time. The dress had no sleeves to it, but instead clung to her body using elastic placed in certain areas, and thin straps that were currently hidden behind the black vest that she was wearing. It was tied at her front using a ribbon that wrapped around her beneath her breasts, and kept the material back against her body._

_Her long black hair was currently tied up into a ponytail. The ponytail consisted of her hair being wrapped around itself, as it formed the band for the ponytail. From the center of the wrap emerged the rest of her locks that hung from her head in slightly-curled waves. _

_Her face held simple makeup: eyeliner, lip-stain, some blush, and mascara, and she held little jewelry on her body — her biggest piece being her wedding ring. The shoes on her feet were light-brown wedges with a woven texture to them. The strings that were tied onto them easily wrapped around her dainty feet, and allowed full-view of her perfect feet._

_She was not alone, however._

_The woman in front of her was odd in appearance._

_She had a spectacular form that was hidden behind black, form-fitting clothing. The dress fit against the woman's body nicely, and showed her small yet perky breasts, slim waist that shifted into wide hips, and the shape of her toned legs and slightly muscular arms; both hidden behind the long-sleeved, monochromatic garment, that even had a small train that followed behind her and hid the shoes that she was wearing._

_The woman's skillful hands were hidden behind a pair of long, white gloves that secretly reached to her elbows. Yet a ring was very much apparent on her left ring finger; dazzling beneath the dim lighting._

_But this was not what was odd about the woman. It was not that she didn't show an inch of the skin on her torso with the dress that she wore, but that the black material covered all of her head — her chin, ears, hair, and most likely the rest of her face was covered by the thin layer of black material. Even adding more to the discomfort that one would have when they first saw this woman, was the fact that she did not show her face._

_Where one should see her identity to the world, was a smooth white mask. It held no holes for her mouth, nose, or eyes, but covered her face entirely. Yet, she wore makeup on the mask. Where her eyes were hidden behind the mask, was a pair of artificial eyes painted onto them. They eyes were wide and held black irises, long black eyelashes that looked to be curled and were spread out evenly, a set of eyebrows that were perfectly plucked resting atop them, and they even held makeup on them — in this case, it was light pink eye-shadow with black eye-liner and some natural dustings of brown to meld it all together._

_The same was done with her lips._

_Her true lips were hidden behind the mask above them, yet where the mask showed indents for the lips, was red lipstick covering the area, coupled with some lip-liner._

_There were even dustings of pink on its cheekbones._

_As a whole, not a piece of skin was visible on this woman. She had managed to hide her entire body, and this is what would've made her unnerving to those who first saw her. She was wearing a mask — her emotions and intentions hidden. How was one to tell what she would do next? Whether she would hurt them or not?_

_Yet this extreme level of secrecy did not bother the Queen as she addressed the woman with a friendly tone._

"_I'm so flustered." Yamuhira confessed as she continued to stare intently at the index cards with ink printed on them; a frown marring her face. "This speech is going to be a disaster. I can't, for the life of me, think of a single way to get my point across clearly, and make everyone feel safe." She stated._

_From across her, where the masked woman sat, came a sound that was not obstructed by the mask on her face._

_A soft, light-hearted, clearly-heard giggle._

"_Milady, you are over-thinking it." The woman said. "Perhaps it is best if you relax for a while — would you like some tea?" She asked. She gestured with her gloved hand towards the small opening that provided of window of communication between the passengers and those outside. All she would have to do is state that the Queen requested refreshments, and they would have a nice little tea set inside of the carriage, within seconds._

"_No thank you, Kirlaluu." Yamuhira said, sitting back in the comfortable couch. "Tea will only make me more irate." She heaved with a heavy sigh._

"_Very well." The woman said; lowering her hand to rest once again back on her lap. "I do believe that if it is not tea that you wish for, then would simply venting your emotions, help?" She asked. Yamuhira shook her head._

"_Venting is not what I need right now." Yamuhira stated. "What I need is to properly phrase my words. There is an entire planet outside of these carriage doors, worried about a war that may or may not be started because of… the recent events." (She had noticed how the Queen flinched when she said those words). "And right now, it is my job to ensure that they do not have to worry about such a thing."_

"_Yet you do not believe the words printed by your own hand." Kirlaluu stated._

_Yamuhira didn't respond._

_She wouldn't dare say that she didn't believe that war could be avoided. The panic that would arise at her words was certainly __not__ what Ikoroku wanted from her, at the moment. After all, he had put her in charge of dealing with all of Animetra's affairs whilst he dealt with the kidnapping, so that he could focus more on finding their daughter, and be certain that Animetra was being run correctly._

_He was stressed. So much so that his eyes have seemed to permanently shift from purple to red — signaling that he was trying his hardest to not let frustration overtake him and unleash the monster inside that all Onagi men held._

_A beast so great and that Ikoroku tried to suppress so much, that she had only ever seen it once in her life — but once was more than enough._

_It was a terrifying sight, and had almost scared her away from being in a relationship with Ikoroku, altogether. If it weren't for the curiosity that she had always tried to restrain, but failed miserably to do, she probably wouldn't be there, at the moment._

_She knew that if she did not do something to lower his stress, soon, he would lose control._

_That was why she was stressing so much over the speech. She needed it to accomplish the task at hand, so that she could then go off to dealing with the other problems going on because of the kidnapping, and lower the amount of things that Ikoroku had to worry about._

_Oh, she could just picture telling him that she had successfully run the planet. His eyes would slowly shift back to purple, and he would give her such sweet little kisses on her face and neck…_

_It would be a sign that he had better control of himself; that he could work at the pace that he wanted to, with the clarity of mind that he desired so much. It would definitely be a pleasant surprise._

_And, once she had Animetra taken cared-of, she could focus on her children. She could check on the health state of her eldest, help her oldest daughter with her current project, and become more active in the search for her youngest daughter. With all four of them working at once, along with the help of their citizens and allies, she was certain that it wouldn't be long before they learned just __where__ it was that her baby girl was being held._

_Yet, as she continued to read over the words of her speech, and the weight of the words sunk in, she held back tears as she tore the cards in her hand and made them vanish._

'_It's not good enough…'_

"_Kirlaluu, record this…" Kirlaluu quickly got writing materials from inside the palm of her white-gloved hands, and began to write down everything that Yamuhira was saying. _

_It was a new speech._

_One, she believed, that the Queen thought would be better than the last. But she knew, as she went into the area where Yamuhira would speak about how the Royal Family of Animetra was ready to negotiate with the enemy if there is a possibility that war would take place, that the words would not get their intended job done._

_The speech had been rewritten around fifty times._

_And each time, Yamuhira tore it and tried again. Saying that it wasn't good enough — that it needed to be better — be more clearer — more specific — quick-to-the-point — understandable — soothing, and so much more._

_That was why she held no confidence in the words that she was writing down. As Yamuhira said the last sentence, and she reread it to her, it was clear that the woman wasn't entirely pleased with it. She began to fear that the speech would need to be rewritten again — or worse, made-up on the spot for they were approaching the village._

"_It'll have to do…" _

_They soon arrived after some more practice with the speech, and were helped out of the transportation by the attendants that had traveled with them. The soldiers stationed on the horses that had gone along with them as well, for extra protection, both escorted and followed the Queen and her Adviser as they headed inside of the large building._

_A large, black-colored umbrella was being held by Kirlaluu as she used it to shield herself from the bright sunlight. Yamuhira walked beside her, with the attendants at their sides and the guards forming a diamond around the two._

_When they reached the conference room, Yamuhira took a few moments before heading in and going to stand at the podium. The bright, quick flashes of pictures being taken had died down as she stood there — speech in her hands, Kirlaluu with her closed umbrella at the side, and what was surely every news station or reporter on the planet, all crammed inside a room (the back doors were even opened to allow more people to fit)._

_She took a deep breath before she opened her mouth._

"_My fellow Animetrans…" She said. And she went on to declare her speech. She spoke of how she was aware of the current concern that there would be a war, and how she wasn't sure if this was avoidable or not. She spoke of how she would constantly be trying to prevent the war, and how it would only be declared if it was a last resort._

_Yet, her words did not hold much emotion to them. And she could sense this — her nervousness growing as she thought that others could see just how little confidence she held in her words._

'_I'm practically lying to them…' She thought, at one point. And this halted her words, mid-sentence, and she closed her mouth. She looked down at the cards; trying to find what it was that she was saying again, and how she wanted it to be said. But all she could hear were her thoughts._

'_I don't know if there's going to be a war or not.'_

'_Even __I__ think that we'll go to war.'_

'_Ikoroku should've done this — he's much better at giving believable speeches than I am.'_

'_But he trusted me… he already has too much to do…'_

'_But I—'_

"_Milady…" Kirlaluu whispered from beside the open. "You must finish delivering the speech…"_

_She blinked and the crowd came into play._

_She could see the looks on the faces of all those people — all curious, uncertain, maybe even a little frightened… There was the occasional snap of a picture as her pause continued, and she could vaguely register some writing. _

_They were writing about her pause — about how she currently looked like a deer in the headlights._

"_G-gui—" She slurred. "I mean… I-I mean…" _

'_I can't lie.'_

_(She opened her mouth to speak, but stopped.)_

'_What type of Queen lies to her people?'_

_(She tried — and failed once again to produce words.)_

'_I should be honest.'_

_(Her heart was pounding in her ears.)_

'_But honesty won't lessen the fright.'_

_(Her eyes looked at all the faces in the room.)_

'_Ikoroku's counting on me.'_

_(It suddenly felt hotter to her… and claustrophobic.)_

'_If I don't do this, then he won't be able to put all of his effort into finding Yayuki.'_

_(She was hyperventilating… and failing to calm down.)_

'_What type of mother and wife would allow such a thing?'_

_(Speak. She had to speak — she had to say __something__.)_

'_Yet lying…'_

_(She couldn't.)_

_Sent into turmoil through her contradicted thoughts, Yamuhira took a step back and away from the podium. The people in the crowd noticed, and they began to take note of the events as her steps continued and she was eventually running from the room whilst being blinded by flashes and deafened by questions. _

_Kirlaluu chased after her._

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><p>.<p>

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><p>Animetra Princess<p>

_**Chapter 7: Deal**_

***By Chibi Star Vamp***

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><p>Monday<p>

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><p>That Monday morning, I was woken-up by Ten.<p>

"**Arise, Bunny, there is school today and you have an appointment with the two Scouts that have watched over you." **She said to me, while a loud buzzing sound played in the background of her voice.

It made it easy for me to get-up. And it wasn't long before I was already putting-on my glasses and turning the lamp on the small table to the side of my bed, on. Once I did, I looked at the time: seven o'clock, exactly. It was actually the earliest that I'd ever gotten-up to go to school, despite always being one of the first people in the classroom.

But today, I had asked Ten to wake me up early, so that I could be able to talk to Mrs. Brooksteen and the new girl about this, before the school started.

It was a serious issue.

Absentmindedly, my hand went to my neck. Again it rubbed the flesh that was there; I thought back to the collar that was hidden (or morphed into, as Ten had told me through further explanation that past weekend) in my skin. It caused me to shiver a little, but also determined me to get ready for the day more quickly than I ever got ready for school.

The faster I bathed, got dressed, and ate, the faster I would get to school, and the more time I'd have to speak to the two of them.

Sighing, I sat-up on my bed.

I glanced at the tablet that lay there, where Ten was being projected from. B.B. was next to it and charging. I was glad that my mom had been unable to come home last night; she definitely wouldn't have liked seeing me talking to these two as we went over what would happen today. The explanation she'd demand was not something that I was capable of giving — I barely understood everything that I'd been told, myself.

But nevertheless, Ten was kind to me and offered to clear some of my confusion. She and B.B. had showed me a few things on the tablet — such as what the planet that I would apparently be going to looked like, if I couldn't prove that I wasn't the princess, beforehand. I had to admit: it was very interesting to find-out that there _was _life outside of Earth, and that the people who lived on that planet were much like we were. However, pertaining to what they looked like and how their society functioned, I wasn't allowed to know that.

"T-thank you f-for waking me u-up." I said to Ten, rather groggily, as I got up off of my bed and went to grab my towel from where it hung on the back of my closet door.

"**You are welcome." **She said. **"If I may, I have calculated the amount of time that you ought to take in each part of your morning routine, if you are to make it to your school fifteen minutes before the students are allowed upstairs." **I looked at her and watched as she projected a schedule, close to me. Ten minutes for the bathroom, ten minutes for getting dressed, and eating was considered optional. **"The current time is seven o' three. By my calculations, you ought to arrive at the school at around seven thirty-eight, without breakfast, or seven forty-eight with breakfast."**

"T-that was v-very nice of y-you to do…" I said, surprised that she had taken the time to do that for me. "I-I think I'll s-skip breakfast t-today…" I said to her.

"**Since that is not very healthy, allow me to provide you with a nutrition tablet after you are ready to leave. It is safe for earthlings to consume, and will give you all the necessary supplements that you need for the day, until lunch." **

"U-um… that's n-not necessary but… t-thanks, anyway." I said. And with that, I left my room and closed the door behind me.

Despite how nice she was, I wasn't trusting enough to just swallow a tablet that I knew nothing about. While I don't doubt that it's safe to consume, I doubt that my body will take well to it. After all, she didn't mention any side-effects and that could either mean that it came with no risks, or she just didn't want to mention them because they're so bad.

I'd rather not take the chance.

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><p>Around twenty-minutes later, I was brushing my large mass of overly-curly hair into its usual style; a wild, maybe tamed style that hid my neck entirely, and looked a bit like a slightly-flattened afro. It wasn't exactly pretty, but it was how I always wore my hair and I didn't have the confidence to do it any other way.<p>

With my usual black headband in my hair, and dressed in school pants and a school shirt, I was ready to go. I adjusted my glasses as I went to my bed and began to pack-up.

Since I was going to question them about the two, I would be bringing both Ten and B.B. along with me to school. I placed B.B. in a space in the back of the tablet that Ten was in, where she fit in perfectly, and then wrapped the two separate chargers that the two had been using over the night, around the tablet, and placed them in the medium-sized pocket in my backpack.

I'd be lying if I said that this didn't make me nervous. It was considered against school-code to bring electronics to school; and if you were caught with them, a teacher or other school official would confiscate it until your parents came to get it.

If Ten and B.B. were discovered and confiscated, I don't know how I'd be able to explain to my mother just _what_ they were and _why_ I had them. (Ten had told me that this whole princess-contest thing was to be kept secret from every other person; no one was to know what was going on).

That was why I brought-along an extra, lightweight sweater that I used to cover the tablet. Hopefully it would be enough to hide its existence from everyone else.

Closing the pocket, I grabbed my backpack by the strap and went downstairs. There, I put-on my coat (it was getting colder and colder as the days went by, despite being mid-October) and hat. I made sure that I had my keys with me, put-on my backpack, left the house, locked the door, and headed to school.

That was the most nervous I'd ever been, walking to school.

* * *

><p>School<p>

* * *

><p>Thankfully, I had managed to slip past Malissa and the others on my way here. They had been hanging around the front gate of the school, but I went around the back and cut-through the playground and to the front door. From there, I quickly headed-up the stairs and was able to make it up to the fourth floor and Mrs. Brooksteen's room, without trouble.<p>

But as I reached for the doorknob to open the room, I froze.

It hit me then, that the person whom I thought was just my teacher was actually an alien creature in disguise who had wanted to get closer to me so that it could decide whether or not I was its princess.

It meant that everything I knew about Mrs. Brooksteen was a lie, and that I had no clue what she was capable of.

_How could I face her now? What would she do to me? _

I forced myself to stop shaking as I swallowed down the nervous lump in my throat. She wouldn't harm me, Ten had told me so. Mrs. Brooksteen had to protect me until I showed her that there was no possible way that I was the princess. Up until that moment, I was perfectly safe — but what would happen after that? What would she do to me once I showed that this whole thing was a _mistake_?

Would she hurt me?

Would she kill me because I knew too much?

I let go of the doorknob and moved away from the door.

_I… I couldn't do it… I couldn't go in._

But it didn't seem as if not facing my teacher was a choice, as the door opened and I came face-to-face with her.

She looked the same — same face, stature, fashion style, and same coffee cup in her hand that was probably empty. But I knew that while she had remained the same physically, mentally, she was a whole different person to me. An unknown. A stranger…

Her brown eyes seemed to be analyzing my face; probably taking-in whatever odd expression I _knew_ that I was making. Then they went down to my neck, and I gulped.

"Hm… I see we have much to discuss." She said.

I gasped. She… she could tell that I—

"Come in." She said to me as she opened the door wider. "And there's no need to have that unpleasant look on your face, Miss Sánchez — I'm not going to ever hurt you." Blushing a little at the fact that I'd been somewhat predictable in my thoughts, I hurried inside and quickly got my coat, backpack and hat off. Once they were hung-up in the closet, I stood in front of her desk as she leaned against it, her arms crossed.

"I had a feeling you would be coming to speak to me about it, sometime soon. I received your confirmation letter this weekend." She said to me.

I remained silent. At this, she raised an eyebrow.

"I understand that this situation must be hard for you to handle, but I assure to you that you have nothing to worry about. Once you complete the tests on Animetra, you—"

"I-I do not m-m-mean t-t-t-to be r-rude b-b-but…" I said as I interrupted her while playing with my fingers, nervously. "I… I… w-w-w-want to p-pr-ove that I'm _n-n-n-not_ the g-g-girl you're looking for… a-ahead of t-t-time…" I said to her.

Her eyes widened in surprise.

"Really?" She asked. I nodded. "How strange… the other four candidates are fully confident that _they_ are the princess — why don't you believe yourself to be her?" She asked.

I shrugged a little.

I thought that it was ridiculous that I could be some alien princess. I wasn't an alien; I was born here, on Earth, and knew perfectly-well who my mother and father was. So there was no way that I had come from some other planet. But I wasn't sure if that was a justified reason or not…

It was already embarrassing that I was the only one of the five girls who didn't think she was the princess _at all_; I didn't want to make the situation even more humiliating by using an invalid point as evidence for not being her.

"U-um… w-w-well…" I stuttered; still fumbling with my clumsy hands. "I-it… j-j-just doesn't m-m-make any s-s-sense to me… a-and… I d-d-don't want to b-be her…"

"Interesting." She said to me. "Can I ask you a few personal questions, Miss Sánchez?" She asked me. "I promise that they won't go into any uncomfortable territory — they are just some basic, family-based questions." She said to me. I wasn't sure why she wanted to do such a thing, but if it meant that I was a little closer to proving that I held no resemblance to the missing princess, then I would gladly do it. I nodded.

"Tell me about your mother; what does she do?"

"S-she's a n-nurse."

"Your father?"

"H-he… he… d-died w-white on d-duty in the m-military…" I managed to say despite how heavy my heart suddenly felt. Even after all these years, I still wasn't capable of speaking about my father without being on the brink of tears. I tried to hold them back through blinking, but it was useless as the first teardrop fell.

Mrs. Brooksteen grabbed a tissue from the box placed on her desk, and handed it to me.

"T-thank y-y-you…" I said as I accepted it and begun to wipe my tears. Despite it only being a single tear, it was still weighted with my emotions and made it difficult to wipe away. I almost felt bad about wasting a tissue on such a small, single tear…

"Any siblings?" She asked me.

I shook my head. "O-only child."

"Well… there certainly are differences between you and the princess when it comes to family." She said to me. "Both of the princess' parents are alive and serve as King and Queen of the planet. She is the youngest of three children — having one older sister and eldest brother, the crowned Prince and Princess." She said to me. "By the looks of it, based on your families, you seem to be opposites. However, that is to be expected — we suspect that the princess is being housed by a foster family that is trying to keep her from discovering who she truly is. Therefore, the fact that you do not have both parents, nor any brother or sister, is negligible." I could feel my chances at proving that I wasn't this princess that she was looking for, lowering, and it made my eyes widen and my emotions to become frantic.

I couldn't be her — I had to prove that I wasn't.

"B-but…" I said; wracking my mind for anything that could possibly save me from having to go away from my mom and possibly leaving her behind, all together. "I… I l-l-look nothing l-like her." I said.

"Oh? And how do you know that?" She asked me. "Have you seen pictures of her?"

"W-well… no b-b-but… but in m-my mind, she's v-very elegant and p-p-pretty and…" I looked down and blushed; trying to hide my face. "The c-complete opp-osite of me… s-she is a p-princess, after a-all…"

I had to be one of the most… unattractive females on this planet. A princess, from what I've seen in the media, was always the prettiest girl of the kingdom. How could I, with my nappy hair, board-like figure and physical awkwardness, be a princess? It was just… impossible.

"That is of no problem, either." She said; causing me to snap my head up at her in attention. "Beings from all over the numerous galaxies and separate universes that exist are capable of changing their appearance according to where they are. Since they did once hold a close relation with Earth, the princess and her family were capable of taking on simple, Earth forms that made them look like any other human on this planet, to make gathering with Earth's officials and speaking to its people, much easier." I could hardly believe that she had just said that. Could they really… transform? "While you may not look like the princess while on Earth, back on Animetra, you may regain your _true_ form, if you truly are the princess in disguise, and will look just like she did when she was little — but, of course, more matured."

"B-but… but…"

I was incapable of saying anything else as the door opened. Looking in that direction, I watched as the new girl entered the room while yawning. I nearly froze in my spot as I saw her notice that I was there, and smile brightly.

Brighter than she ever had, before, I noticed.

She then let out a squeal and ran to me. I moved back a little as she tackled me into a hug, and surely would've fallen had Mrs. Brooksteen not grabbed my arm and pulled me and the new girl, forward.

"Release the girl." Mrs. Brooksteen said. "You're cutting off her circulation."

The new girl hugged me more tightly for a few seconds before she released me. I moved back and away from her as I placed my hand on my heart, and took in deep breaths. I had been unable to breathe while she hugged me.

"I'm sorry, so sorry." She said to me. "But I just couldn't help it — I mean… gah! _You made it_!" And instantly I knew what she was referring to; it was true, she was also involved.

_I knew there was something odd about her…_

"Now is not the time to celebrate, Miss Blanc." Mrs. Brooksteen said. I looked at her and watched as she glanced at me. "The news is bitter-sweet — Miss Sánchez wants to prove that she is not the princess, beforehand."

"What? _Why_?!" She exclaimed loudly, turning to look at me with shocked, wide blue irises.

"She doesn't want to be the princess."

"Bunny~! Are you _insane_?!" She asked me. (I could hear Mrs. Brooksteen mumble something about volume, but I was unable to hear what she was saying, clearly, because of the new girl talking). "How could you not want to be the princess? I've never heard of such a thing happening, before. Being the princess — being _a _princess, in general — is one of the most amazing things ever. I mean: you get to do so many things, and meet people that will benefit your kingdom, later on, as well as be adored by so many people. Not to mention that you get waited on hand-and-foot, have a wardrobe _to die for_, and the jewelry is certainly not reflective pieces of colored glass. Oh no, no, no — the crown you wear will be one-hundred percent _everything_; from gold and other precious metals to precious stones. Plus, think of all the good that you can do. A princess has the power to change a country for the better, and despite Animetra most certainly _not_ needing much of that right now, don't you still want to be able to help others on a large-scale? And then there's the fact that—"

"I think she gets the point, Miss Blanc." Mrs. Brooksteen said as she cut-off the babbling of the new girl.

"Sorry." She said with a blush. "But it's just that I _can't believe you don't want to be the princess_!" She exclaimed. "Do you not understand how beneficial being her would be to you and the rest of the Animetran citizens? I mean, not having their youngest heir there has really put the planet in a state of hopelessness, and now they're more anxious than ever considering how it's approaching the princess' birthday…" She said; her mood saddening.

"W-what do you mean?" I couldn't help but ask.

The new girl sighed; pulling a lock of blonde hair behind her ear and revealing her piercing. "Well, you see… when something like this happens — when an heir is not present — they have until their thirteenth birthday to return home, or they will be out of the running for the crown, completely, and are no longer considered worth finding. This can harm the planet in the future, because it means that there are less people to help control it and keep everything in order."

"T-that's horrible." I said. I couldn't believe that they'd give-up on finding the heir, so easily. I would've thought that they'd continue searching until the end of time.

"It's the law, and there's really nothing that anyone can do about it — well… except maybe the Head of The Council…"

I was going to ask what she meant by that, but the bell rang. Mrs. Brooksteen went to open the door, and in flooded the other students. Knowing that I wasn't allowed to discuss such things while other humans were around, I threw away my question and headed to my desk.

I'd have to continue the question during lunch.

* * *

><p>Lunch<p>

* * *

><p>When the bell finally rung for lunch, I was anxious for everyone to leave and Mrs. Brooksteen to come back, so that I could ask her more questions and figure-out a way to prove that I wasn't, nor did I want to be the princess (no matter how nice and important it sounded to be).<p>

While Mrs. Brooksteen took everyone downstairs, the new girl and I stayed inside the room, with the door locked. It was a bit unnerving since I was now wearier about her, but I was glad for the privacy.

"So, I'm guessing you found Ten and B.B." She said to me. She sat down on the side of her chair, facing me, with her legs crossed and eating some of those chocolate candies from before. Despite how much I wanted one, I kept myself from asking — or accepting — one of the delicious milk treats.

"Y-yeah…" I said while not looking at her. While my attention was on her, my eyes were focused on the page of my sketchbook where I had begun to draw… something. I wasn't sure; I was just painting what I saw in my mind.

"How?" She asked.

"B.B. c-crawled across m-my living room t-t-table." I said softly. She seemed to laugh at this a little.

"Yep. Sounds about right; we should really have her sensors fixed…" She mumbled under her breath. I heard her swallow one of the sweet treats before she said, "Then again, it took a while for you to notice that they were there. After all, originally you were supposed to learn about them when you opened the package on the same day you got it. That way, by now, we would be, like, on our way to Animetra and figuring-out who the princess is. But oh well, not all plans are air-tight." She stated.

I looked at her as she grabbed and unwrapped another candy in her free hand while the other held the bag.

"You know, I can't comprehend why you don't want to be the princess. Yeah, sure, it's a bit weird and would be a huge transition if you really _were her_ but…" She paused and heaved a sigh. I noticed her eyes become tinted with sadness.

"The princess… is one of my best friends…" She said. "Back when we first met, I was visiting her planet for the first time, and since her parents ruled it, we were to stay with them as we learned its culture and possibly made a treaty with them; despite it being kinda insignificant given the circumstances, but you can never be too safe." She said.

"She was the nicest thing. She showed me around with calm enthusiasm and made me feel so… at home. And, since I wasn't having a good family life at that moment, I had begun to picture myself living there as her sister. It was silly, when I think back on it, since I already had a home, but… if it weren't for that, I wouldn't even _be here_. I'd be stuck on my home world being one out of a set of sixteen, and the one least wanted among my parents…" She ate a candy ball quickly, before continuing. "The princess helped me to escape that life and be me. She allowed me to become her Guardian — a protector that lived with her, in that castle, and trained her and stuff. She allowed me to learn more about myself and what I wanted — _after_ we sorted through all the legal issues since I had kinda snuck away from home without telling anyone."

"But the point is—" She said after realizing that she was kinda getting off track (or at least, that's how I saw it). "I _want_, so badly, to find her and bring her home. She's one of my best friends and I love her _so much_… I just… I _can't_ let what happened to… um… this guy, happen to her."

"W-what happened to the g-guy?" I couldn't help but ask.

"He wasn't found in time for his thirteenth birthday. On the day of it, all of the people who were looking for him were ordered back, and the search was called-off, completely. It was devastating, and it's left a family torn and hallow… I don't want that to happen. I want to bring her back and make things right again." She sighed. "I wish she was never kidnapped…"

"H-how… how long have you b-been searching?" I asked.

"At the moment, for over eight years…"

My eyes widened at the response. They've been searching for the princess for over eight years? I understood that looking for someone isn't the easiest thing, but to have spent all that time searching and coming-up with nothing but leads…

It was amazing that they hadn't given up already. But by the sound of it, the princess was worth finding. Not just because she was royalty, but because she was a beloved friend.

It made me feel more determined to show that I wasn't really her, so that they wouldn't waste any time or hope on thinking that I was the princess, when I wasn't. But, at the same time, it kinda made me wish that I _was_ her so that I could put an end to everything that they were going through — so that I could make those people happy.

But I knew that it was silly to think that. I wasn't this girl — as much as others believed me to be, I simply _wasn't the princess_. There was nothing I could do about that.

The door opening caught my attention. I looked up to see Mrs. Brooksteen enter the room. She said to me, "Get the tablet that was sent to you," and I rose from my desk and headed over to my backpack. There, I opened the medium-sized pocket, moved aside the sweater I had protecting the tablet, and pulled it out, along with B.B. (I assume she wanted to see her, too).

I took the two objects, closed my backpack, and headed over to where Mrs. Brooksteen sat. There, I handed it to her and waited, along with the new girl, as she turned both objects on. It was clear that she was familiar with the technology — she wasn't stunned at all when Ten appeared on the screen.

"So you are the one who was sent to her." Mrs. Brooksteen said as she spoke to Ten.

"**Yes. You must be the disguised agent Brooksteen, Jenrette, correct?" **She asked. Mrs. Brooksteen nodded her head. **"I expected to meet with you sooner." **

"We can't have any of the other Earth students knowing about this, so we had to wait until they've cleared the premises." Mrs. Brooksteen stated; Ten nodding in understanding. "But that is not the important issue here; Miss Sánchez has already told me that she doesn't wish to be the princess. I have cleared some things up with her, but I need to know more of her reasoning for it. I assume that you had been doing the same thing as me and trying to convince her that there is a possibility?"

"**Yes. I have." **Ten said. **"She and I have had numerous discussions about it over the weekend. I have told her all that she wants to know, within boundaries, but I do not believe that I have done a good job in convincing her that there is a possibility that she is the princess." **

Mrs. Brooksteen nodded. "Have you shown her any evidence that led to us making this assumption of her?"

"**Excuse me?" **

"Miss Sánchez, please go get the book that you have all of your drawings in. Meanwhile, Ten, do show me the pictures that you have of Animetra…" I nodded and went away to my desk to get my drawing book. For a moment I hesitated in doing so… but then I thought: _How __else__ was I to prove that I wasn't the princess?_

So I got my book and made my way back to the desk. There, I saw holograms of different structures that… looked oddly familiar…

"May I please see your book for a moment?" Mrs. Brooksteen asked. I handed it over to her and watched as she began to flip through the pages. As she stopped on a page, she said to Ten, "Show an image of the front exterior of the castle; the Southern Gates and all." I watched as the hologram moved and began to show a picture of a large castle. It was stunning, to say the least, with large gates and great architecture. It was like a towering masterpiece…

I was shocked, however, as Mrs. Brooksteen placed my notebook next to the picture. The two images — that of which I drew and was currently seeing — were the same…

"**Amazing." **Ten said from the screen. **"The resemblance is spectacular. I can find very few differences; the main being the texture, as well as the slants of the roofs. But other than that… I believe that it is a perfect reproduction of the castle and its main gates." **I couldn't help but shake my head at this.

"I-it must be a c-coincidence…" I said.

"Miss Blanc, what was the princess' favorite garden?" She asked while flipping through pages once again.

"The Painted Garden." The new girl replied.

"Show an image of the Painted Garden." The image of the hologram changed once again, and this time it showed a garden that held so many different types of flowers, in so many different colors, that it looked like an art palette.

Once again, Mrs. Brooksteen compared it to a picture in my book.

It was the same…

"Ooh, I knew it!" The new girl exclaimed. "I knew it just _had_ to be you. Absolutely _no one_ could possibly draw _that_. The Painted Garden was only ever seen by the princess, herself, since she made it one of the few places in the castle that were only for her. You know, that's where new breeds of flowers were created… or, at least, the _plan_ was for that garden to be the center of creating new flowers, you know, until the princess was kidnapped."

I shook my head, again.

"A-another coin—"

"Show a portrait of the Onagi Royal Family, when the princess was… hm… four, I believe." The hologram completely changed from scenery, to artwork. I found myself staring at what looked like a family of five — a mom, dad, and older brother and two young sisters (although they didn't exactly look that way).

And it was practically the same on my book.

"T-they're ch-charact-ers…" I said, trying to defend my argument. "I t-thought of them w-when I was l-little."

"No. They're the current Head Family of the planet, and we all serve under them." The new girl said to me; her eyes shining brightly. "And you, Bunny, are one of these two girls — although I can't tell you which one, exactly, since that's still on the down-low…"

I shook my head for the umpteenth time that day.

"N-no…"

"Bunny, listen." She said as she turned to me. "You can say that all you want, but the evidence points to _you_, more or less, being the princess. I mean: I've looked through _tons_ of candidates that give-off that other-worldly feel, and you are the first one to show proof that you at least subconsciously know of Animetra, instead of it just being your skill in art or whatever."

"N-no…" I said once again — refusing to believe such a thing. "I-I'm not her. T-this is just a… just a… c-coincidence." I said.

The new girl opened her mouth to speak again, but she wasn't able to say a thing as Mrs. Brooksteen spoke, instead. "Let me strike a deal with you, then, Miss Sánchez." She said to me. "Seeing your turmoil, I believe that this would be a fair trade. I assume that you want all of this to be done and over with, correct?" She asked me. I nodded. "Well then, if you promise to cooperate with the situation and go to Animetra and perform the testing there, and you _do not_ turn-out to be the princess, you will be brought back here to Earth, and we will be erased from your memory. All details pertaining to the search for the princess — me, Miss Blanc, Ten, B.B., and all other mentions of the princess and her home planet — will cease to exist in your world, and all will return to how it once was."

My eyes widened at this.

"D-do… you m-mean it?" I asked. It sounded too good to be true. I wouldn't remember any of this happening; I wouldn't be experiencing the fear or nervousness that I currently was, and I wouldn't need to worry about my mom's safety…

"Of course, I promise you that I'm not joking. If you prove your theory that you are not the princess, I will make it seem as if these past few days, none of us existed. You will be as clueless and innocent as you were, before. _However_, if it turns-out that you truly _are_ the princess, you must promise me to do all that you can to make-up for your possible absence." She said. "This entails getting involved more politically, socially, in schoolwork, relationships with other planets, and many more. Is it a deal?" She asked me. She held-out her hand for me to shake.

I mulled it over for a moment before taking it, and shaking her hand as a sign that I agree to her terms.

_I have nothing to worry about_, I told myself. _I'm not her._

* * *

><p>.<p>

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* * *

><p>Short, kinda a filler, but necessary nonetheless. I know that there wasn't much action in this one, but it was a great transition chapter. With it, Bunny has finally agreed to participate in the search for the littlest princess; meaning that in another six days (or sooner), she'll be on her way to Animetra. I <em>can't<em> wait to introduce the rest of the main supporting characters of this story, and one of the main characters. It also means that I have a lot of detail to describe, and that you must be patient with me as I work on those chapters that request a lot of detailed descriptions. I really hope you all enjoyed this chapter.

Next chapter: The Five Candidates.

Please review!

~Chibi


	9. The Four Candidates

Finally the time has come. After seven chapters of working up for this, it's finally come for Bunny to head to Animetra. Yep. This chapter will exhibit the main supporting characters, as well as present the other candidates. I don't know why I thought there were four other candidates — stupid me and my perfect-five-wanting-ness. Instead, there are actually three other candidates besides Bunny. This chapter holds a lot of description, and is long because of that, but bear with me.

Also, please disregard any old character descriptions from before until I explain why they're that way, later on as we learn more about the characters (this especially applies to the next chapter, when I exhibit the final descriptions). Finally, I get to go into more new material! :D

I own _everything_!

New point-of-view — I hope you guys like. ^^

Enjoy!

* * *

><p><em>Having come back from her search, unsuccessful, Kirlaluu was left with no choice but to try and calm the thoughts of the people that were left at the Press Conference. Surely they had several questions that they wanted to ask, and required the scene to be smoothed out. And she, as Yamuhira's loyal friend and Adviser, would ensure that these things were done, and that the Queen would not be bad-mouthed.<em>

_Entering the large room, the cameras flashed not a second after people spotted her. _

_She stood at the podium, her heavy breathing masked by her calm exterior. Standing with a straight spine at the podium, she raised her gloved hand and the images were no longer being captured. Taking in a deep breath to calm herself, she allowed the first question to be asked._

"_Shi-kakka, Shi-kakka!" Shouted a reporter. She gestured for the overly-enthusiastic male to speak. The room went silent when it came to voices, but pictures were still being captured every now and then. "Given the departure of Her Majesty, what do you believe is her current state of mind? Do you see her as being fit to rule us in this time of panic and need?" _

'_These reporters surely do not hesitate in getting right to the point…'- She thought, before answering._

"_I do. Not because I am friendly with her, but because I have seen Her Majesty deal with many a great struggles in life, and brush them off as if they were a simple snowflake that landed on her. I believe that while she has fled the scene, she holds a good — nay, __justified__ reason for departing so hastily. Next question, please."_

_The second reporter was a female whom she had seen sipping from a cup of what had surely been coffee, moments before. She easily recognized the female from many Press Conferences before. She ran an online blog that was very popular._

"_Shi-kakka, since Her Majesty was unable to provide a clear response, do __you__ believe that a war will occur?" She asked, momentarily fixing the glasses that were resting on her nose._

_Kirlaluu immediately knew that she must tread carefully when answering this question. Being familiar with the girl's work, she knew that she was quite the master when it came to twisting words around and causing a great amount of commotion with one small article._

_Oh yes._

_A quote here, some background there, and she could make it seem as if she, herself, had declared that there would be a war — officially._

_That she could not have._

"_No. I do not." She responded; pausing for a moment before elaborating more on her words. "While I do believe that severe action will take place once the princess has been found, I do not believe that it will spark a war. The Royal Family has always avoided war as best as they can, in the past, and will continue to do so now. There will only be a war if negotiations fail — and I assure you…" She paused to look sternly into the eyes of each person present. "…__All__ of you, that negotiations will most certainly __not__ fail."_

_She was about to call on the next person when the female spoke again. "I have a follow-up question, and a clarifying question." She stated._

'_She is going to try to trick me.' Kirlaluu immediately thought; sensing that she had entered the Lion's Den._

"_Go ahead." She responded calmly._

"_Are you saying that while the Royal Family is upset over the kidnapping, they do not care enough to start a war? Allow me to clarify…" She stated, pausing to remove her glasses and look directly into where Kirlaluu's eyes were hidden by the mask. "It is basic human emotion that when one has lost something that they care deeply for, they are willing to go to any length to get it back. So why, when the daughter of our Lord and Lady has been kidnapped, do they not immediately go to war? Do they not __care__? Are they contempt with the princess being kidnapped? I know that if it were my child, I would not try to 'negotiate'…" She stated with her hands performing air quotes. "I would immediately go to war, if I had the power. I would make those people suffer for doing such a thing. One does not simply __steal__ an heiress without severe repercussions!" By this point, her passionate preaching was starting to rouse those around her. There were murmurs and nods of agreement. "So why are they trying to negotiate when it is clear that these people deserve to be punished?! They deserve to taste the mighty strength of Animetra, and learn that you cannot just steal away our beloved princess, and get nothing but a slap on the wrist. No. We, as Animetrans, must show them __not to mess with us__! And that we are not as weak as we seemed — for surely that is why they kidnapped __our__ princess! They believe that we are __weak__! And it our duty to retrieve Onagi-hidenka, and show them that they are __wrong__!" _

_The crowd was getting boisterous as the people began to shout words in the reporter's favor._

"_Yeah! No negotiations! War! War! War! War!"_

"_War!"_

"_War!"_

"_War!"_

"_War!"_

_The security personnel in the room tried to calm down the crowd, but they continued to chant loudly. The slow chant quickly built-up until Kirlaluu was forced to cover the area of her ears, and was escorted out of the room by one of the guards that had been with her._

"_It's not safe here anymore." He said to her over the sound of possibly a hundred reporters all shedding their fear of a possible war and embracing it._

'_She called upon their nationalistic pride to incite a riot…' Kirlaluu couldn't help but think as she made her way out of the building and was placed in the carriage. 'I can only imagine what Milady's reaction will be to this… surely it may rival that of Milord's.' She could imagine it now…_

_And it was not pretty._

_Yet, she would admit: the reporter was brilliant. It was clear that she had done her homework, and most likely planned-out every little thing that she was going to say, to perfectly incite that reaction._

_It was quite the effective plan._

_Yet—_

_(She could still hear the chanting in the background)._

…_It will certainly do more harm than good. _

* * *

><p>.<p>

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><p>Animetra Princess<p>

_**Chapter 8: The Four Candidates**_

***By Chibi Star Vamp***

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><p>.<p>

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><p>It was around eight in the morning when she received word that the transportation Pod that had been sent to Earth, had entered Animetran airspace and was quickly approaching the landing stations.<p>

She had immediately made her way there, on behalf of her princess who was busy with other things, and now stood a safe distance away from where the Pod would land.

She was tall, standing exactly at five-foot-six when she was not assisted by shoes or any other platforms that could add more to her height, and easily towering over the one whom she served with great loyalty. Her figure was both athletic and slim. Her breasts were not large, but were rather of the average size for a female her age. Her stomach was toned, but held no hints of her abdominals, and her hips, while slightly wide, were not too big. With her rather small torso, her legs seemed to go on for miles.

Covering this attractive figure was a variation of a common maid outfit that seemed too revealing for the weather.

The top covering her breasts was made of a puffy white material that spread much like an accordion around her breasts. Connected to it were white strings that rested on her shoulders, and ensured that the material would stay in place. Tied onto these white straps, and resting on the curve of her shoulders, were small and thin white bows. The bottom of this midriff was stitched beneath her breasts using a black ribbon, and gave-off a light ruffle effect.

Staying true to the popular summer piece of clothing that it mimicked, beneath it, her smooth stomach was on display. Her body was only covered once again by the skirt that rested on her hips, an inch or so below her belly button. It was held tight to her figure by a black strap that provided its border, and hanging from it was the rest of the skirt. The skirt was wide in diameter with the layers of white ruffles that were present beneath it, gently resting atop her legs. It gave her somewhat of a more curvy appearance.

Coming from underneath, and hiding the bare skin of her long legs was a pair of white pantyhose made of thin material, but with a very intricate black butterfly pattern on it. Her feet were covered by simple black flats, with white ribbons lacing them onto her feet, and tied three inches above her ankles. This made the shoes look like those worn by ballerinas.

While at the front nothing seemed to be covering her stomach, behind, the midriff was connected to the skirt by a thin piece of rectangular fabric holding black and white ribbons crisscrossing one another and creating a cross-hatching pattern. It was connected to the black band that was the start of the skirt, and went all the way to the bottom of the midriff, where the ribbons that helped to create its ruffled effect seemed to be derived from. While the black ribbons appeared to help create the ruffles, the white ribbons were tied into a bow that hung there nicely.

Despite the shirt being sleeveless, resting on her arms was white fabric that appeared to be detached sleeves. They began to cover her arms from above her elbows, and went down to her wrists. The material was white, and much like the pantyhose that she wore, black butterflies were strewn in, flying towards her shoulders.

Present around her neck was a metallic silver choker. There were bright green lines on it that were glowing softly, and hanging from it was a butterfly pendant that looked very realistic. With the extreme details that created it, it looked as though any moment it could fly off of the pendant and disappear into the sky. Flowing through what appeared to be its veins were the same green lines that appeared on the choker.

She had an attractive face. Her flawless peachy skin was on full display, and one could easily see the freckles that marred her face. Her eyes were of a bright green color, and quite large. They were framed by pitch-black eyelashes that held much volume to them, and defined the luminescent green color even more. Her nose was slim, and she had high cheekbones. Her lips were of a neutral pink color with an undertone of brown on them, and were moisturized.

Her hair was of a light brown color, and the strands were thick. They appeared to be somewhat curly and high in volume with the way that the hair that was pulled back seemed to create a small bump above her forehead, and the loose strands on the side were curled the slightest bit. Her hair went down to her waist, and was styled into a single, long fish-tail braid that was tied at the end with a black and white ribbon.

There was a silver headband holding the locks of hair back and in place, away from her face, with the top holding a symbol engraved into it. It was of a crescent moon. The moon's tips were pointed towards the left, and there were three isosceles triangles along the invisible outline of the rest of the moon. The insignia was glowing green.

Overall, she was a very beautiful female whom did not seem to be affected by the slightly cold weather, due to her choice of clothing. Her eyes were set on the sky above her, as she continued to scan for what it was that she wanted to see.

Finally, she spotted a gleaming vehicle in the sky. While it was similar to those that were already flying about, with its rounded and smooth exterior and the mechanisms from within, what assured her that it was the one that she was seeking was the fact that on the side was the insignia present on her headband, along with a second insignia stating just who were authorized to use it. Yes, it was definitely the Pod from Earth.

As the vehicle began to land, she could hear the landing machinery begin to operate as the Pod slowly circled the landing area and began to hover in the air. Little by little it began to descend, and much like an airplane, wheels appeared under it. When it touched down, people in darkly colored clothing appeared and got to work helping those inside, out. A stairwell on an incline plane was brought forth and placed near one of the entrances, and attached itself to the vehicle. Then the handle for the door was opened, and out stepped eight females, that all appeared to be around the same age.

They separated into groups of two. The young woman looked over all of them; easily being able to decipher what race they would belong to on Earth, as well as match their faces with their names and what else she knew of them.

She looked at the first group of females.

The one present on the left was dressed in a large black sweater that hid her upper body, and a pair of jeans that appeared to be loose on her legs and baggy. Peeking out from underneath them were sneakers that were black and white, and appeared to be new, or used very rarely. She had her hands hidden in the pockets of the sweater, and had a bored expression on her face.

She was a pretty girl. While her skin was slightly pale, and held the usual imperfections of a teenage girl, her eyes were black and surrounded by black eyelashes, and her nose was slim. Her lips were a little plump, and weren't glossed in any way, and her long black hair was loose and fell against her body.

The girl beside her appeared to be the complete opposite of her.

She stood tall with a straight spine and her head held high. She wore a yellow, long-sleeved blouse that was stitched in at her wrists, and then held an inch of loose fabric at the end. The blouse was hidden behind a white vest that held silver buttons going down the center, and was greatly accommodated to her growing breasts. The skirt she then wore was slightly ruffled, but fell easily against her legs. It was of a soft yellow color, much like her blouse, and went down past her ankles. White socks rested a few inches beneath them, on her legs, and the bottom were hidden my black, low-heeled dress shoes.

She, like the other girls present, was pretty. Her eyes were of a gentle honey-brown color, and her skin tone was gently kissed by the sun. Her eyebrows were well-kept, along with her eyelashes, and there was a light dusting of pink on her cheeks. Her lips, which were slim, were glossy, and her face was framed by shiny blonde hair. The hair went down to her mid-back, and was pulled back by a white headband. It allowed the small white pearl earrings that were in her ears, to show.

The second group of girls seemed more diverse when it came to nationality.

The first girl was dressed in a navy-blue-colored blazer that was open and allowed one to see the simple white shirt that she wore underneath. The slacks that she wore easily matched the color of the long-sleeved blazer, and went down to rest on the top of her feet. She wore no socks, but rather was barefoot inside the black flats that she had on.

Her hair was dark-brown, and short. The bob that it created went down to the top of her shoulders, and the tips were slightly curved in. The bangs that she had were clipped to the side beneath the hair that overshadowed it. Her face was free of makeup besides lip-balm used to protect her lips, and her eyes were dark-brown, like her hair. She seemed to be a rather mature-looking female, but the woman could tell that she was still the same age as the other girls.

The girl next to her was dark-skinned and had on clothing that seemed to entirely hide her figure. It consisted of a shirt with sleeves that went down to an inch or so above her elbows, with a matching skirt that hid her feet, entirely. The shirt and skirt were of a dark gold color, and held patches of maroon present all over. The color-blocking created different patterns and images, and seemed to make it look as though she was wearing a dress. The sleeves were slightly puffy at the top.

She had a slightly-large forehead, and her nose wasn't as slim as the others'. Her hair was hidden behind a wrapping around the top of her head that was created out of the same fabric that she wore. It hid her ears as well. Her eyes were black, and she had on no makeup, as well. Yet it was clear that her skin was well-moisturized, and that she was a serious person from the expression that she wore.

The third group of girls contained a girl who was also dressed in a jacket, but it was made of jean-like material and was of a regular blue color. The jacket was open and revealed the pink shirt that she wore underneath, that had a simple design on it of a bejeweled heart. Her skirt, which was made of the same material as her jacket, was short and went to her thigh. It was smooth at first, but then went into a series of tight ruffles. The belt holding it to her body held some slight jewels to it, as well. She didn't seem to be bothered by the slight coldness of the day as she wore nothing to cover her legs, but instead stuck with simple white socks, and pink and white high-tops.

She had short, blonde hair that was curled in a way that looked both tight and loose as it fell against her sun-kissed skin. Her eyes were of a bright blue color, and her pink lips were pulled back into a large smile as she stood there. Besides the lip-gloss that made her lips shine, she wore no other makeup. The piercings present on her ears were simple, silver hoops.

Yet while she seemed enthusiastic, the girl next to her did not.

The girl next to her had on a dark-purple coat that went down to her thigh. Around the coat was a thin, rectangular sash that was tied in front of her, and the collar of it was pulled back the way it should be. She was wearing jeans that, while not as baggy as that of the girl with the black-sweater, didn't show the shape of her legs. She, too, wore white sneakers, but they looked more worn.

She had a large mass of curly, dark brown hair on her head that was pulled back into a ponytail despite how uncomfortable it made her feel. Her head was down, and this made it difficult to see her face. Yet, one could clearly see the black glasses that she had on, but not her dark-colored eyes or much of her face. Her ears weren't pierced, and it looked as if she wanted to sink into herself, at that moment.

The fourth and final group of girls consisted of a girl that was dressed as though it was the summer. She was wearing black tights that did nothing to hide the shape of her toned legs, and a simple, short-sleeved white shirt that was very loose on her body and went down past her pelvic bone. She wore a necklace around her neck that had beads of different material, sizes, and color, and made it the only piece of jewelry that she wore. She wore simple, white-colored sandals.

Her skin was also kissed by the skin, but also a little dull. While there was some pudginess in certain areas, she was still a healthy female. Her skin was free of any makeup of the sort, and her eyes were brown. She had black hair that was loose on her body, and went down past her hips in somewhat messy tresses.

The female next to her wore an outfit that resembled a school uniform. It consisted of a long-sleeved, dark blue colored shirt that had a rectangular elastic band at the end of the sleeves, with two, thin white stripes present on it. There was what looked to be a small cape hanging behind the girl that formed from the collar of the shirt, and had two white stripes running along its border. Beneath where it attached itself naturally on the shirt, was a white sash that was held together by a small, rectangular wrap. It rested in the area between her hidden breasts. The skirt she wore was simple, with the same color scheme as the shirt, and two white lines on its edge that nearly covered her knees. It held crisp ruffles to it. She wore white socks, along with simple, white-colored sneakers.

She had silky black hair that went down to her shoulders, and was pulled away from her face by a navy-colored headband that matched her clothes. Her eyes were black and the shape around them was slim, showing that she was of Asian ethnicity. Her skin was pale, and she had a bright smile on her face. Her ears were not pierced, as well. She looked very enthusiastic.

The woman could easily tell what they were feeling, and the amount of confidence that they held pertaining to the current situation. Yet, despite their backgrounds and level of confidence, each girl was basically on the same level. But over the next seven days (not counting today), one may rise above the others and gain many things.

"**Have all the females from Earth been given the communication tablets?" **The woman asked with an electronic tint to her voice. The females nodded at her, stating that they understood what she was saying. She smiled. **"Greetings. My name is Cyon, and on behalf of my lady, Onagi-no-kimi, I would like to welcome you all to North Animetra Castle, esteemed guests." **She stated with a bow.

The girls, in response, bowed as well.

"**I wish to ask the Guardians to identify themselves, as well as present me with the necessary information regarding the female whom they have brought." **

The girl from the first group stepped forward. She was the one who wore the black sweater; and pulling her hand out of the pocket of her sweater, she showed a slim, metallic case to the elder female, that was in the shape of a rectangle and black.

"Her name is Victoria Mildew Wilson." She stated as she handed the case to the female.

The second girl, who wore the suit, stepped forward.

"Fatoumata Anikulapo-Kuti." She said. "She is often referred to as simply _Mata_, for the benefit of those who have a difficult time saying her name." She stated as she handed over a blue-colored case similar to that which the last girl gave.

The third girl, with short blonde hair, stepped forward. "Bunny Sánchez." She stated enthusiastically as she gave a yellow case.

The final girl, wearing loose clothing, was the last to speak the name of the girl accompanying her, while she handed over a green-colored case. "Chika Sato."

"**Thank you." **Cyon stated, holding all four cases in her hand. **"I would now like to ask the Guardians to head inside for their meeting with Onagi-no-kimi. She awaits for you all in Central Station." **Nodding their heads, the females who handed over cases began to leave the area. They all shared a look with the girl who had originally been in their group, before disappearing behind one of the many entrances and exits of the area.

There was silence.

During this silence, the four remaining girls watched as Cyon's stomach began to glow. Lines appeared on it that formed weird markings inside of a circle, and then appeared to be lifted from her skin into the air in front of her abdomen. She placed her hands in the center of the strange symbol, and they disappeared within it. Then, she pulled her hands out from it and the symbol was placed back on her stomach, before it disappeared.

She then smiled at all of the girls.

"**Do not be frightened. It is simply a spell that provides a portal to a storage dimension of my own." **She stated as though it were the simplest thing in the world. **"I realize that on Earth, such a thing is not capable, but here on Animetra, and other planets, it is quite common for these portals to be summoned at random, and for its owner to make use of it. They can be created in any size, so please do not be alarmed if one of the people you come across suddenly pulls an object out of their hand." **

"**Now, if you would please follow me, I shall show you all to where you will be staying for the next week. Come." **Hesitantly but surely, the four girls followed the elder female.

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><p>Arriving at the room, the girls were awed.<p>

Past electronic doors that required a keycard to activate, was a large, circular room on the Resident Hall of the magnificent castle that they had entered.

"**You each have your own beds." **Cyon stated as she began to show them around the spacious lodging. **"A picture of the one which the bed belongs to is framed above it, to ensure that there is no confusion as to who sleeps where." **She went over to the bed designated for Chika.

"**The beds are all full-sized, and hold a nightstand on the left side. Atop each nightstand is a clock and lamp, and in the bottom of the two drawers present, are materials that Onagi-no-kimi wishes that you use. Sato-san, may I show them what is inside using your personal materials?" **She asked. Chika nodded eagerly, not at all bothered, but actually happy that her things would be put on display.

"**Inside there is a set of clothes that you will be asked to wear for the physical parts of the exam." **Cyon pulled out a simple, short-sleeved white shirt, along with purple shorts that would surely go down to the girls' knees, more or less. **"They are quite comfortable, and dry quickly. Running shoes have also been provided, as well as a change in clothing." **She pulled out an extra set of clothes, as well as white running shoes. She placed them aside on top of the nightstand. **"A bathing suit has also been provided for you." **She showed to them a navy-colored, one-piece bathing suit with Chika's name written on it, atop a white rectangle that went across the chest of it. **"Each one is custom made to fit your bodies, thanks to the information that you shared with the Scouts. They will not be used often, however." **She placed the bathing suit to the side.

"**Along with them are a set of books." **She pulled-out a simple paperback book, along with a smaller one that resembled a journal of the sorts. She focused on the paperback book. **"Onagi-no-kimi suspects that you all have burning questions, and has composed this book that will hopefully answer the basic questions. It gives a brief history of the planet, as well as a more detailed explanation as to why it is that you are here, and what is expected of you. I ask that you take some of your free time to read over the rules and regulations. This book does not leave the room." **She then moved on to the other book. **"The second book is one to use for the writing sections of the assessment. The material that you will write in here will be looked at by Onagi-no-kimi, and the Guardians. I recommend not to write anything that you would not want others to see." **She then placed the books to the side, and pulled-out two final objects. One of them was a monochromatic, simple backpack, and the other was an electrical handheld device. **"This backpack can be used to store the clothes that you will need to bring, along with the book for writing, and whatever else you would like to bring. This device is not only a guide to the planet and includes features such as a map, a search tool, and holds some recreational activities, but is also a communication device. You may use it to speak to those back on Earth, if you wish — so long as you do not reveal your true location. When you first turn it on, it will show you the tutorial on how it functions." **

She then placed everything back in the nightstand, and moved to the right side of the bed. **"Here is where your clothes will be stored for the time being. As you can see, your luggage has been brought here for you. Using your individual keycard, you can swipe it to open the closet." **Using her master keycard, Cyon opened Chika's closet. There was a momentary beeping sound signifying that it was being unlocked, and then the double doors slid open in the opposite direction.

"**As you can see, it is quite spacious and will surely accommodate all of the clothing that you have brought with you." **She stated. **"The clothes present in this isolated question, have been provided to you by Onagi-no-kimi. They are traditional kimono that you will be asked to wear, for three of your assessments. Attendants shall help you all to get dressed in them, and they are to be kept in this section."** She then closed the closet by swiping the keycard over the scanner, once again. **"Now, on to the bathroom."**

She began to move to the back center of the room, right between the beds of Victoria and Bunny. There was a single, light-colored wooden door that did not need a keycard to be opened. The door opened with a simple twist of the doorknob, and revealed a large bathroom.

It contained a single shower, as well as a bathtub at the side that was sunken into the floor. There was a large three-panel mirror with light-bulbs surrounding the top of it, hanging above the large sink and table that was elevated in the air. It would surely hold enough room for all four girls to use it, at once, as well as to hold their toiletries.

The bathroom also held silver rails to hold towels, and shelves to hold other things.

"**As you can see, it is big enough to accommodate all of your needs to refresh yourselves when necessary. Please step inside so that I may show you how it functions." **She stated, moving in and allowing the girls to pile in as well.

"**The sink turns on with a simple touch of your fingers." **She touched the nozzle of the sink, and water being to pour out. **"The water temperature will always be warm. The hand-soap dispenser is also automatic as well, and is next to a dispenser for hand sanitizer. Placing your hand beneath either one of these will activate them." **She turned off the water.

"**You each have your own cup with your name on it. Use it to store your toothbrush and tooth paste. To disinfect your items after use, place the cup with the item inside, preferably your toothbrush, inside of this capsule." **She gestured towards where there was an object that resembled a much simplified version of a black-colored coffee maker, with a semicircle-shaped piece of plastic being its only opening. She pulled the top layer of the plastic back, to show how to open the contraption. **"Once it is inside, simply close it, and then press the button on the top. Please, do make sure that it is fully closed. Green light will then flood the inside and disinfect your cup and toothbrush." **She closed the disinfecting machine, and moved on to where the shower and sunken bathtub were.

"**The shower and bathtub both operate using the same system. See this panel here?" **She asked as she pointed to a touch-screen device that was present on the wall before the shower and bathtub. **"To operate it is simple. Simply choose whether you wish to turn the shower or bathtub on, the temperature of the water, and then step inside. There are already preselected temperatures programmed, but you may personalize it as you please. There is a similar system inside of the shower, and beside the bathtub that allows you to change the temperature of the water, and turn the water off. Feel free to enjoy some of the special features included, such as changing the shower into a vertical pool, and the bathtub into a Jacuzzi. You are also able to have both systems dispense soap for you, if you please." **She explained.

"**I ask that you be considerate of others when using the bathroom. Also, that you do not stay in here for a large amount of time. Please, do remember that there are others that need to use it, as well." **

The girls nodded, and Cyon began to exit the bathroom and headed back into the bedroom. The young females followed.

Headed towards the door of the room, Cyon paused.

"**I shall now take my leave. Here are your keycards. Use these to enter you room, as well as gain access to other areas of the castle that are open to you — these areas are mentioned both in the rule book, as well as your communication devices. If you need my assistance, please do not hesitate to press the Service button and call for me. I shall return later on to escort you to your next destination. I hope that you all approve of your accommodations. Goodbye."**

As the doors to the room closed, and they were sunken into silence, the four females headed over to their beds and began to unpack their clothing.

Despite the awkward silence, no one made a move to spike a conversation.

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><p>"<strong>Onagi-no-kimi, as was requested, I have brought to you the discs handed to me by the Guardians." <strong>Cyon said as she opened the portal to her storage dimension, and easily acquired and took out the four different colored cases that she had received earlier. She placed them in front of a young female, whose hair was free of all restraints except a metallic headband, and wore a burgundy-colored robe with golden lining for clothes.

"I thank you very much." She stated as she began to open the first case and pulled-out the lone, small disc that was sheltered in a black velvet mold. "Tell me, Cyon, having spent some time with the young candidates, use your personal functions and tell me your opinion of them. Withhold no information, for that would do nothing but hinder my research. I ask that you be brutality honest, as well as detailed, and tell me all of the positive and negative characteristics that you have noticed about each individual female." She said as she opened one of the compartments to the small, black laptop that she had before her, and placed the disc inside. Closing the compartment, she waited as the information contained in the disc began to download onto her personal computer.

"**As you wish, Onagi-no-kimi." **Cyon responded. **"However, my account of them will not be as significant now, as it shall be at the end of the week. I have only spent thirty-eight minutes and three seconds with them." **

"Speak."

"**The female named Victoria Mildew Wilson was brought here by Shi-san. She seems to be of high society. I believe she holds the social skills necessary to be one of the members of the Royal Family. However, I am uncertain how she would react to tasks that involve partaking in the political world, as well as making decisions based on economics and good will."**

"What of the aura she emits?"

"**I can sense that it is lightly saturated with her transformed blood. However, it is not very potent and I cannot decipher whether it is Essence or Mana — such is the case with the other females of the group."**

"I have a new task for you, then. When they go to get vaccinated and have blood drawn for the records, ensure that you collect one extra vial to be brought to me. For these samples, you are the one to do the procedure, and are to hand-deliver them to my office in the Clinic."

"**Yes, Onagi-no-kimi." **Cyon said.

"Reveal what you know of the next girl. What are her qualities?"

"**She is of African descent, and was brought to Animetra by Ikusei-san. She goes by the name of Fatoumata ****Anikulapo-Kuti****, but uses **_**Mata**_** as an attempt to accommodate those who find it difficult to say her name. She has not spoken much, and I know little of her. However, she has asked me questions regarding Animetra's political structure, leaving me to believe that she has a political background and would do well with the tasks that are required of her."**

"Her parents are diplomats on Earth, if I am not mistaken."

"**Then she is well-exposed to the need to adapt to a new environment, quickly — a good quality to have when being a young princess trying to establish relations with other planets and organizations, to ensure a prosperous future."**

"Her social skills, however, must be on par as well. One cannot be involved in politics if they are unable to get the masses on their it is uncovered that she is as nice as a bear roused from its sleep by one of its competitors, then I doubt that she will be accepted easily, and could possibly be the one to put an end to the search."

"However, the week has only begun. Next girl, please."

"**Sánchez, Bunny: brought by Seikatsu-san. As you were informed of, she is the candidate who had tried to prove that she was not Onagi-hidenka, before coming to Animetra." **

"Yes. I remember that situation well." She stated, moving on to the third disc that contained the information on that girl. "What is your opinion of her? I for one see her to be a rather negative character."

"**I know the least of her. She has not spoken a word, nor has she shown any interest in the current events. Her eyes look everywhere except where they ought to, and she emits a nervous air around her. I… do not feel positive about her, and sadly am questioning why it is that she was brought here. Frankly, I believe that it would be better that she be quickly evaluated and proven not to be Onagi-hidenka, so that she may be sent home quickly and no significant amount of time would be spent on her." **Cyon stated.

"Are you stating that she be put on a schedule separate of the other candidates?" The young girl asked.

"**As a bold statement: yes, yes I do." **Cyon responded. **"I will be glad to do it so myself. I understand that with the time limit coming to an end, seconds and effort cannot be wasted on someone who does not wish to be here." **

A smile came across the girl's face.

"You seem to be quite passionate about this, Cyon." She said. "Is your programming more human that I originally thought it to be? Why, I am most certain that the intensity level of your anger was never this high…"

"**I am self-adapting to the situation. Do you find it pleasing?"**

"Yes. It makes you more of an automaton that has taken a step closer to being human, than an artificial robot that holds no will of its own. However, do not change your features by force. If you wish to be able to feel tragedy, ecstasy, doom, or so on, come to me and I shall tinker."

"**Yes, Onagi-no-kimi."**

"Now, regarding the separate schedule for the girl, allow me to meet her personally before coming to a decision on whether or not it is worth allowing her to blossom in the following week. After all, at times not every flower bud will sprout to be more beautiful than it was before, and be worth the wait. However, this is only seen by observing it closely to when it reveals a peek of what is inside…"

"**As you wish." **Cyon responded.

"Speak of the last girl."

"**Sato, Chika: the candidate brought by Moriko-san. I know little of her as well, but judging from the aura around her, I feel that she is a very cheerful character. If my memory serves to aide me, she is the only otaku candidate. I expect her to hold much knowledge on the inhabitants of the planet, but I do not know how she will fair with the other qualities that would define the princess. If all that she has to offer is an obsession with those that inhabit Animetra, then I feel that she should not be focused on, as well."**

"Therefore, you agree with two of the choices for candidates, but not the others."

"…**Yes."**

The female let out a giggle.

"Cyon, I thank you for your opinion. In all honesty, I am nervous socializing with these females. I feel as though, with their personalities, they will be too much for me to handle. However, with your review of them, I now know what it is that I ought to look out for. You are quite the helpful companion."

"**Your praise is kindly accepted." **

With the information from the last disc having been fully downloaded, the female saved the files and removed the disc from the computer. She placed it back within its case, and handed all four cases back to Cyon.

"I shall transfer these files to your SD card, later. In the meantime, ensure that these do not get into the hands of others, and are neither lost nor damaged."

Cyon nodded and placed them back in the storage dimension.

"Now, take a few moments to recharge yourself. In thirty minutes, return to the room of the females. Take them to the garden on the Tatami House — if they ask the reasoning behind the change in scenery, tell them that it is because I wish to enjoy a hearty breakfast and introduce myself to them."

"**I am certain that they will be elated to meet with you, Onagi-no-kimi." **Cyon stated.

"As am I to meet them."

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><p>Thirty Minutes Later<p>

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><p>The garden of the Tatami House was not placed behind the only building of the castle that seemed to be lost in time with its ancient Japanese architecture and historic feel inside one of the many large rooms that were housed within the castle, but was actually atop the building, itself.<p>

Nestled atop one of the three main buildings that created the Tatami House, itself, the garden had quickly become favored by the frequent visitors of the castle, who preferred to got there for meetings beneath the sky — day or night — instead of sitting inside one of the meeting rooms, albeit how nice the rooms were, as well. The Tatami House had also become a popular lodging for the visitors, and even the staff and Royal Family members, themselves, who would sometimes use it to get away from the stress of the modern world and seemingly travel back in time.

In fact, it housed the bedroom of the eldest princess.

The garden was a whole other world atop the roof.

It held plush green grass that was sprinkled with morning dew, as well as growing flowers that had naturally sprouted there over time. Leading from the staircase hidden behind a set of fusuma **(a/n: Japanese sliding doors) **that was the main entrance to the area, was a path made of monochromatic white stones. It formed a rectangular pathway that led to the center of the somewhat large garden bordered by elevated walls, and then formed a circular platform that rested atop a pond. The pond, which was home to fish, that had been bred in it from the beginning and kept it with a steady population, was bordered by a low rock wall that was created around its edge.

Besides the fishes, other creatures such as dragonflies, and the occasional birds, had also made the small, artificially made habitat their home.

Resting atop the circular platform was white furniture. A white, circular table that was large enough to seat ten people was present with a large, white parasol opened and providing the entire area with shade.

Currently, there were cream-colored nameplates with a decorative border around the edge sitting atop the table's smooth surface. Each separate nameplate contained the name of one of the four Earth females present on it, written in black ink — guiding them to their appropriate seats. Behind the nameplates and near the bodies of the seated females was a setting for a meal. A large plate with a glass and a set of utensils resting at the side, were atop a placemat. Resting on the plate was a napkin that had been folded to look like an origami swan in still flight.

"My, my…" Victoria said as she took everything in — from the beautiful scenery around her to the elegant dressing of the table. "This is most certainly a beautiful setting — my compliments to the host."

"**Onagi-no-kimi will be here momentarily. You may thank her then." **Cyon responded. She, unlike the other females, stood beside one of the empty seats. It was the only one without a nameplate, yet it was also set for someone else to eat, and was the center chair between Mata and Chika, with there being a one chair different between each girl.

"Very well, then." Victoria stated; her hands folded on her lap as she was taught to do to keep her elbows off the table. "Speaking of this, _Onagi-no-kimi_ that you often mention, is she the director of the program?"

"**Yes. Onagi-no-kimi has been head of this search for five years now. It was she who developed the idea of bringing the candidates back to Animetra, to be assessed to the fullest extent." **Cyon responded. Victoria nodded her head; suddenly feeling a bit upset that she would not be closer to the important female.

"And how exactly did that come to be? Who was in charge before she?" The Australian female asked.

"**Forgive me, but that is information that only Onagi-no-kimi can reveal to you, if she wishes." **Cyon responded. **"You may ask her that when she arrives." **

"And when will that be?" Victoria asked. "Judging from this display, she ought to be a person of high society. I would believe that someone of her caliber would be on time to meet us here. I find the fact that she is not present, very rude."

"My admission of guilt for being tardy, then."

All four girls turned their attention to the entrance of the garden. There, standing beneath the opened fusuma doorway, was a young female that greeted them with half-lidded eyes and a gentle smile on her face, as she approached them.

The young girl was wearing a traditional Japanese kimono. It held a brownish-red color as the base of the fabric, and an autumn leaf pattern present on the bottom of the kimono was scattered about in a windy fray. The leaves were of different shapes, sizes, and autumn colors, printing a Western design on a traditional piece of Japanese attire. The obi tied around her waist was of a soft pink color, and was wrapped with belts of different shades of brown. The way that it was tied at her back seemed to mimic the flight of a bird as it spread its wings.

Due to the slightly colder weather, the kimono was thicker in material than it would normally be. The sleeves of it went down to her wrists, because while this was quite the formal event, it was more casual formal than anything else, and she did not wish to overdress herself.

Her legs were hidden behind the lengthy skirt of the kimono, and white tabi socks. Her feet were slipped into a pair of brown-stained, wooden geta with heels that added a half-inch more to her small height.

Her body, while easily hidden behind the kimono, showed that she was a little girl. She was lacking in height despite the half-inch that was added to it because of the geta, making her a solid three-foot-three, and her face still held much of the chubbiness that was characteristic of a child that seemed to be growing out of its baby phase. She, of course, did not have large breasts, and surely did not have much to her hips, either.

However, she still held a mature air and beauty around her.

Present on her slim neck was a silver-colored choker. It held a simple, white-colored pendant hanging off of it in the shape of a perfect circle; successfully concealing a very advanced piece of technology using its innocent appearance. Atop this piece of decorative neck jewelry was a second choker that held no pendant, but was silver-colored as well, and seemed to give off fragments of rainbow-colored light as the sunlight touched the metallic piece.

Around the neck that the ppieces latched on to, fell locks of pastel-purple-colored hair. The front section of the hair that was composed of two loose groups on the opposite sides of her face, went down to the female's waist, and held a smooth and silky texture to it. It was lightly curled and gave-off a sweet scent to it, that mixed with the other appealing smells that the young female gave-off, and created a natural perfume characteristic of her. The rest of her hair was pulled back and woven into an intricate bun. Present on top of this large mass of secondary colored hair was a clip that wrapped all around it. It was of a snake that was greatly detailed in its metal body, and had its head resting perfectly atop the bun. It stared at all of those ahead of the female, with piercing ruby eyes.

Hiding her forehead and perfectly plucked purple-colored eyebrows were shortened locks of the purple hair, straightened and forming bangs that rested around a centimeter or so above her eyes. Her ears, which slightly peaked from these beautiful tresses, showed ruby earrings encased in three prongs.

Her eyes were surrounded by elegant and dark black eyelashes that were naturally curled, and she held pupils that were of a silver color. Yet there seemed to be tiny, multicolored specs lodged within the pupils of the young girl, making them resemble an unmoving kaleidoscope of the sorts, and enchanting all of those who dared to look into them.

Her nose was smooth and slender, and her lips, while plump, where slender as well. There were hints of rose on her pudgy cheeks, giving her a healthy appearance.

Yet the most striking thing about her was the animal resting upon her shoulders, idly. Curled around her as if it were a scarf, was a white-colored snake that resembled the jewelry one twisted around her bun. It easily stood out among the color scheme of the kimono with its pure lack of color, and the girl's oddly-colored features. The snake was large; managing to wrap its body around her two full times with some extra length left behind from its head and tail, and held glowing red eyes and slit back pupils. There seemed to be a metallic collar bellow its head on what could only be assumed as its neck, that was the same as the one which Cyon wore — immensely detailed butterfly and green lighting, and all.

While it would normally be frightening to have such a thing wrapped around one (in fact, all four girls seemed to be rather intimidated by this fact as the younger female continued to approach them), the little girl was not unnerved by the snake's presence, nor did the snake hold any killing intent towards the female. It lied there, wrapped around her body, and seemingly napping with its eyes perfectly closed.

The four girls were awestruck by the odd character before them. She, noticing their expressions, could easily tell what was running through their minds — mainly, her and the snake that was currently napping on her shoulders.

(She had seen this coming. After all, it was the first time that they were meeting her and she had debated whether to bring the albino reptile along or not, for several minutes).

"I would like to beg for you forgiveness due to my tardiness." She stated as she went to where she would be seated and stood before the table, beside Cyon. "I held no original intent to arrive minutes after I was due. I assure you all, the outcome was only unpleasant because of the throng of people that I had to get through, to make my way here. However, I know that my excuses are futile, and I only ask that you could find it in your hearts to forgive me." The unknown female responded.

Having a feeling that it was directed at her, Victoria said, "That is alright. It was out of your hands…" For some reason, she felt unable to keep her calm expression with the female's presence. Despite how young she looked (six or seven, if she were to estimate), there was something _extremely_ intimidating about her — and it wasn't just the animal around her neck.

"If I may be so bold as to ask, who are you?" Victoria asked.

"I do not mean to be rude for not doing this earlier, but allow me to formally introduce myself." The young female stated. "My birth name is Onagi Bunko Yukitsuki, and I am the crowned Princess of Animetra. On behalf of my family and my personal feelings, I would like to humbly welcome you all to our planet, kind and willing Candidates."

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><p>Too… many… descriptions! Ugh! But hey! At least I've been able to give you guys a good look into a portion of the world that I created for Animetra Princess. For those of you that read my original version of this story, you may recognize the garden that they were at — with changes, of course. I have to say, I'm really liking how everything is turning out. I'm looking forward to sharing with you the new processes that I've come up with, for determining just <em>who<em> the missing princess might be. Anyways, I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter, and didn't find it too boring. I wish that I could say that this will be the last description chapter, but sadly there are many more planned. *sigh* Thankfully, I have tons of awesome stuff planned, as well, so look forward to them!

Next Chapter: The Princess Competition: Intro. The beginning of what could possibly be the final search for Animetra's youngest princess! All the girls are motivated, except…

Please review!

~Chibi


	10. The Princess Competition — Intro

Hello~! Welcome all to the first part of the infamous Princess Competition that will determine just who out of our four candidates is Animetra's Princess! Is it, the beauty from the down under, Victoria?! How about our diplomatic Africa native, Mata?! Could it be our Japanese school girl and pure otaku, Chika?! Or, is it possibly the quietest of them all, the representative from the United States of America, Bu— what? She doesn't want to do it?! Why?! That little—! I… um… mean… *clears throat* *throws away game show host guise* Hello! Haha! Sorry about that. Now, as I was saying, from this point on these four girls shall enter an arena, called North Animetra Castle, where they shall prove their worth. It's about to get… _competitive_. :)

I own _everything_!

Enjoy!

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><p><span>Animetra Princess<span>

_**Chapter 9: The Princess Competition — Intro**_

***By Chibi Star Vamp***

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><p>"Cyon, could you please inform the kitchen staff that the candidates and I are ready for a morning feast?" Bunko stated as she fully seated herself upon the empty chair designated for her. "I do believe that the females are all ready to indulge themselves, as am I. Also, ensure that Spica's meal is brought forth as well." Her hand lightly stroked the top of the head of the white snake around her shoulders.<p>

"**Yes, Onagi-no-kimi." **Cyon stated. **"I shall return shortly." **Cyon then left the room, revealing the stairs hidden behind the fusuma, and left the Princess and candidates, alone.

Looking around at the table, Bunko was capable of matching the faces of each female, with what she had learned of them. Taking into consideration what Cyon had told her earlier, as well as what the Guardians had briefly said to her in the short meeting that they had, she could say that she had a pretty good idea of their personalities, and what to expect.

However, she hoped that in the following week, she would discover the parts of them that others did not know of.

"Silence can be birthed by many things." She said, capturing the attention from their wandering thoughts. "It can be the result of shocking news, an unpleasant situation, a great horror, or even the product of hearing something immensely hysterical. Why, I hold friends whom silently laugh at a riveting joke, while moving their arms around spastically. If I am reading between the lines of this silence well, then it is due to the fact that you all are unsure of how to respond to my introduction. Or rather, you find me… intimidating."

It took a moment, but after a few more seconds of silence, the four girls seemed to nod their heads.

"You are a princess and the director of this examination…" The blonde girl, _Victoria_ she believed her name was, said. "I have never personally met someone of your status. And I do not wish to make a fool of myself in front of you."

"There ought to be no fear of that. Despite my birthright, I am still a female such as you all. I laugh, cry, and make myself a jester in front of others, many, many times before — whether it was intentional or not." Bunko stated with warmth radiating from her somewhat half-lidded eyes. "Please, do not be frightened of me. I wish to form good relations with you all, and hope that you would not mind coming to me in a dangerous or confusing situation. Therefore, I ask that you all would become less tense in the situation, and open yourselves up to me. I, myself, am willing to share as much with you as I will allow." And then, noticing where some of them were looking at, she added in: "Ah! Do not be frightened of Spica. I have trained her since she was young, and assure you that she will bring to you no harm." As if to agree with her statement, Spica momentarily raised her head and hissed at the girls.

There was no automatic response.

But, a few moments later, Chika, who had been the most animated out of all of them as she fiddled with her fingers beneath the table, asked, "U-um… I'm not sure if this is the appropriate way to phrase it or not, but… Are you a loli?" She asked.

"You wish to know my age to see whether or not I am truly a child or not. Surely my way of speaking has sent you into a river of confusion within your mind." Bunko said.

"Uh… yeah." Chika responded.

"To answer your question: I am thirteen years old, and will be turning fourteen in February. Therefore, yes, I am what would be called a _loli_ — physically, at least." Hearing this, the girls were both shocked that the little child before them was actually older than each of them.

Chika, excited by this news, said: "Wow! This is so amazing! I've always wanted to meet a loli because they're just the most amazing thing ever! I mean: they're _so cute_! Hey! Is there some guy that you like? I mean: is there some really powerful guy that you hang out with a lot with and that constantly saves you from creatures and has a really cool weapon and—" Chika took a moment to breathe, as she had quickly run out of breath. During this pause in her barrage of questions, Bunko decided to answer what she believed it was that Chika was asking.

"While, yes, I do hold powerful male friends and an elder brother who is quite skilled in many types of combat, himself, I do not go on adventures with them. I understand that you are referring to the actions that the citizens of this planet partake in, but please understand that being Princess, I do not do things such as that. My role is more along the lines of performing necessary research and fulfilling my duties to the fullest."

"Performing research?" Mata asked.

"Yes. I am employed as one of the head researchers at the University for Scientific Development. It is one of the few universities open to people from all planets, everywhere." Bunko stated.

"Would someone from Earth be able to be accepted there?" Mata asked.

"Not necessarily." Bunko stated. "Earth does not hold a connection with the university, and thus no applicants from there are received."

"How did you obtain that position?" Victoria asked.

"I was personally asked to join the team, when I was of the age of three. It was a result of my advanced-intelligence. For you see, from birth, I have been able to comprehend topics that a children of my age at that current time would not even begin to understand until five years later." She stated. "I hope you do not see this as me bragging about myself — I try very hard not to do that since it is very inconsiderate."

"Oh no, no, we get it that you're just answering her question." Chika said. "Now, there's something I have to ask."

"Please, do not hesitate."

"This planet, Animetra, is like… _Anime World_, right? Every anime and manga character that I've ever seen or read about is living on this planet, right?" Chika asked with a growing excitement in her darkly-colored eyes.

"Yes, when it comes to what on Earth is referred to as _Anime_. As for _Manga_, not every Earth character is present here. They all live on _Mangametra_, which is a distance away." She stated.

Chika let out a scream.

"Oh my god! You mean there's a _Manga World_, too?!" She shouted.

"**Please, I ask that you not scream at my lady." **Cyon stated. She entered the room and led the way for servers dressed in black-and-white, carrying silver platters covered in silver domes with crystal handles that rested atop their white-gloved fingertips. They worked like clockwork as they surrounded the table, placed the meal down on the table in front of the young females, poured them drinks, and then left the room in a matter of three minutes.

"**I find it quite unpleasant, and Onagi-no-kimi is not one that ought to be screamed to." **Cyon finished as she took her place beside Bunko, and stood there with her hands resting upon the top of her thighs.

"S-sorry." Chika said with her cheeks burning from embarrassment. "I just got too excited and… um…" She looked down at the food on her plate; unable to meet Cyon's eyes.

It was a simple breakfast of scrambled eggs that were seasoned, and some pieces of meat on the side that were sauced deliciously. The drinks that were provided to them looked to be water tinted yellow, with two ice-cubes present in it. It looked like a delicious breakfast. And beside it were two different ways to eat it. There were a set of chopsticks wrapped in napkins, next to a regular fork and knife.

She, being Japanese, went to grab for the chopsticks because it would feel much more natural for her to eat with them. The other girls, she saw, went for the knife and fork.

"It is alright. Your excitement is something that I expected of you, Sato-san." Bunko said.

"You know my name?"

"Yes. I have reviewed everything that the Scouts who chose you all to be the Earth representatives, recorded about you. This includes basic things such as your names, hobbies, and your nationalities. I must say, you are the most ethnically diverse group of candidates to participate." She stated.

"What were the other candidates like?" Mata asked, as she began to eat some of the eggs with her fork.

"They all came from the same living environment, such as yourselves. However, unlike Earth, there is no distinction between races. Their skin may be colored differently and hold altered features of the _basic_ person on that planet, but they would still belong under the same category for their species. Thus, there is no such thing as Hispanic, Asian, African, or Australian, and therefore all of the previous candidates would be considered to have the same nationality, despite their customs holding some variations to them." She stated.

She did not go to eat immediately. Instead, she grabbed hold of the small, top-covered tray that held the food for Spica, and looked at Cyon.

"Due to their nervousness of her, would you mind feeding Spica over there near the grass, where I can see her? I do not want the girls to feel frightened or intimidated of her presence." She said as Spica began to travel up her outstretched arm, and made her way to Cyon's body. There, she rewrapped herself into a scarf around Cyon's shoulders. The female grabbed the tray.

"**I would not mind at all, Onagi-no-kimi." **Cyon stated as she began to leave the circular platform and headed-over to where some of the flowers were planted.

It was after she noticed the girls' exposures relax, that she finally used her chopsticks to grab at the meat on her plate.

"Very interesting." Mata stated, bringing back the original focus of the conversation, and essentially continuing it after the litter disruption that had occurred.

"Um… earlier, you mentioned that there was something like a _Manga World_." Chika said, feeling up to conversation.

"Ah, yes. _Manga World_, as you call it, is actually called _Mangametra_. It, like Animetra, is ruled under a single family — the Itorashi Family. My best friend Kiyomi is the eldest child there, and is about to be the crowned Princess for over a year, now, in November. Mangametra is one of Animetra's greatest allies, and once a year a festival is held in honor of the alliance."

"Amazing…" Chika said. "What other types of planets are there?"

"The ones that Animetra is associated with are entitled _Hentaima_ — ruled by the Kirukaze Family — _Marencia_ — ruled by the Tsumi Family — and _Cartania_ — ruled by the Hirohata Family. They are all valuable allies to Animetra, and my brother and I are greatly associated with the children of those families, as well. It is very important that the peace be maintained through friendship formed at a young age, by those next in line for the Crown." She paused in her eating to grab at the yellow-tinted water. It was very refreshing, much like a mix between water and lemonade, but not as potent as lemonade. She couldn't help the sigh that left her mouth as she set the glass back down, and gently wiped her mouth of excess water.

"Amazing…" Chika said; the only thing that her excitement would allow her to say. She wanted to ask what types of creatures lived on the other planets, but Mata spoke before her and moved the conversation astray from the topic she wanted to discuss.

"Are all the planets in existence ruled by a monarchy-centered government?" Mata asked.

"Not all of them. Those in this galaxy, yes, but most planets are not ruled by a single family as a whole, and there are some that hold no governmental system at all, and are basically a planet-wide battlefield." Bunko stated.

"Like Earth." Victoria said after eating most of her eggs. "It is ruled by different governments for each country or province."

"Exactly." Bunko responded.

"Well then, while this talk about planets is quite the learning experience and all, I would much rather like to know more about the competition that we will be taking place in." Victoria stated. "I know little of it, and would like a clearer picture as to what it is that I will be doing for the next week, and why."

"I expected as such. Please, do not refrain yourself from asking for the light through the blinding fog." Bunko stated.

"In that case, can we know of _why_ this competition is occurring, in the first place? I understand that it is to find the missing princess, but what exactly caused her to go missing in the first place?" At the young Australian girl's question, Bunko sighed.

Almost instantly, her mind was flooded with all the events that had taken place due to her little sister's kidnapping. It had, after all, been the starting point for a reign of devastation that occurred for the next couple year. Most of these problems did not come to a stop until this plan was devised, and they had gained all the necessary permits to travel further from their airspace. Other, more personal problems had left holes and scars in the hearts of not only her family, but those that held them dear in their hearts.

"That is a tale… most heartbreaking." Bunko stated. "To speak of it has become taboo among the citizens of Animetra, and Mangametra…"

"Why Mangametra?" Chika asked.

"You see, many years ago, the youngest princess of this planet — my little sister — was kidnapped from the castle. She was taken away by a group of black-clad figures, along with the youngest child of Mangametra — the littlest brother of my best friend, Kiyomi." Bunko stated.

"I see…" Victoria said. "That must have been quite the tough situation to deal with. I can only imagine the hole that it has created, and the possible strain of the alliance."

"A hole indeed… It has left us empty and struggling, in many ways. However, in time all things seem to fade, and it does not seem as though the event is as significant as it once was. The feverish responses that eradicated from it when others first heard the news, no longer exists. Now only a veil of sorrow has fallen over Animetra, slowly being fueled by the anxiousness that festers upon falling sands of time." She took a moment to eat some of the eggs, and some of the meat, at the same time. It was a well-prepared, delicious combo.

Yet it did nothing to better the sadness that entered her heart. Despite having accepted her sister's disappearance, many years ago, it still hurt her to think of the event, and the Hell that it brought upon Animetra and Mangametra, because of it.

Now more than ever, considering how it looked as though her sister would never step foot on Animetra, ever again.

_Do not jump to conclusions so hastily. One of them may be Imouto-chan…_ She thought to herself, whilst glancing at the faces of each of the candidates.

"What made you think of this plan? Bringing female candidates to Animetra, that is." Victoria asked.

"It was a long, brutal process that was fueled by anxiousness and a constant fear. However, after much debate and research, it was determined that my little sister was outside of Animetra's galaxy, and has entered the Milky Way Galaxy. However, the trail ended there and we were left to search each planet in the Milky Way Galaxy. When this proved to be more time-consuming than a successful way to look for her, important details were remembered, and the plan was created to bring girls whom emitted a hidden feel of transformed blood, and place them in situations that would hopefully stir it enough to allow one of them to be revealed as my little sister."

"Transformed blood?" Chika asked.

"Yes. As I am sure you know, Sato-san, creatures from this planet are capable of changing their forms in many different ways. Such would be the change that occurs when one _powers up_. When this occurs, their blood changes the slightest bit, becoming more powerful along with their body. This difference is difficult to spot, however, but can be done so if one holds the necessary tools. Thus, it is theorized that in order to hide Imouto-chan from us, her appearance has been forcibly changed to help her become a chameleon on the planet that she is present on. Yet, despite the change, it would still be easy to identify that she was not who she appears to be through the feel that the transformed blood gives off."

"Meaning… all of us hold transformed blood." Chika said. Bunko nodded at her. "Oh my gosh — _I'm not human_?!" She exclaimed; shocked to the core by this news.

"In a way, no, you are not one of the humans that belong on Earth. However, you could also be a _human_ from other planets, or possibly a different species of creatures. I do believe that one of the last girls that were investigated held Dwarf blood in her system, that had diluted itself over the generations of her family. Such are the cases with all of you. You all contain blood of the supernatural variety. Meaning that originally, your families were supernatural creatures that called Earth its home. However, over time, as Earth lost its magic, your families began to marry with the regular humans that were present, and the blood began to become overpowered by the normal blood now present in the body. It is still there, that inhuman blood that once made your families fantastical creatures, and other beings with that inhuman blood can sense it. Tell me, now that you are all sitting by each other, do you feel wary of one another? Not in that regular, unknown way, of course, but rather in a way that makes you feel… _feral_. Frightened by one another's _presence_…" She said softly.

The girls couldn't help but look at one another. They eyes were shifty and a little untrustworthy as they took in each other's features, once again. Even Bunny, who had kept her head faced down the entire time, could feel shivers up her spine as she looked at the females present around her.

"Now that you mention it… yeah…" Chika said. "You guys feel… _odd_ to me."

"I have had this feeling many times before, thus I saw nothing of it." Victoria stated. "I had just believed it was my body reminding me of my personal space… To think that I was actually reacting to those with different blood…"

"It's intimidating." Mata stated.

"Yes, it is. This is the very feeling that I cannot help but to get around those who I am unaware of. Even now, I am slightly apprehensive of all of you. Why, just earlier I was telling Cyon how nervous I was to eat with you all. However, it also makes me eager to start the program. I have devised a set of tests that will help to awaken that transformed blood in all of you. I assure you all that by the end of this week, your true colors will shine so brightly, that one could very well see it from space."

"Now, enough of this talk — there are many things that we ought to do, and very little time to do so. I want to get all of the basic introductions done today, so that tomorrow the training can fully begin. Now, please, eat and enjoy."

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><p>After they had breakfast, Bunko and Cyon stated that the girls would be given a tour of the castle. They would mainly visit the areas that they would be allowed to go to. Spica was not with them; having slithered back to Bunko's bedroom after the meal.<p>

"It involves much walking." Bunko said as they began to make their way out of the Tatami House. "North Animetra Castle is composed of a main building, with several other, unique buildings attached to it. They are not small pieces of architecture, either. So please, I apologize for your tired feet, ahead of time." She stated.

"That is a small price to pay for a tour of this beautiful castle." Victoria stated. "I assure you, I have no problems with walking."

"Neither do I — I've been wanting to see what this place was like since I saw it from the inside of that… um… plane? Car? You know: that thing we arrived in." Chika said.

"**It is called a Pod. It is specifically designed for smooth travel inside and outside of atmospheres. It has efficiently replaced the rockets that earthlings use to travel into space. They were seen as inefficient for quick space travel." **Cyon stated.

"Yeah, those." Chika stated. "This place is _huge_! I think it's cool how it's surrounded by water, and bridges connect it to the rest of the land. Hey. Will we get to cross one of those bridges and see what's around here?" She asked, extremely enthusiastic about exploring the dreamland before her.

"Perhaps… I have yet to take any of the other candidates across one of the bridges. Yet I shall not overrule the option. At any moment, I may just decide to allow you to see more of Animetra, if I believe that it is significant to awakening the transformed blood lying dormant in all of you. Keep in mind, depending on the results of the examination, you may or may not get to see the rest of the entire planet of Animetra — not just the surrounding area." She stated. They passed through the main entrance into the Tatami House, and entered one of the many corridors that were used as connections to the other buildings.

The corridor was arched, and held white-painted walls. There were no windows, and it was lighted by fixtures indented in the ceiling, in circular cut-outs. The floor was made of tiles.

Quickly they came across another door. Cyon opened it with a snap of her fingers, and they walked into the hallway.

"The Tatami House is where my bedroom is." Bunko said to them. "Cyon is always at my side, aiding me with the tasks that I am required to do. She, too, lives there. Thus, Cyon is capable of controlling everything inside, automatically — including the doors that lead to it."

"So… she's a walking remote control?" Chika stated; surprised that the human-looking female before them was fake.

Feeling insulted, Cyon turned to the young Asian female and said to her, **"Please, do not insult me in such a way. I am far more advanced than that. I highly dislike it when I am demoted to such a simple device that only bears one use. I have a very unique programming that allows me to assume different modes. Naturally, Onagi-no-kimi made it so that I could manipulate the systems in her home, since I have always assisted her in such a way."**

"Oh… sorry…" Chika said, feeling rather guilty from having upset Cyon.

"**You are forgiven. In the future, however, take a few moments to think of what you are going to say, and edit it properly. If you just speak without considering whether the words would be appropriate or not, it could lead to unnecessary problems. A good quality of a princess is to be a master of vocabulary and speech." **

"I remember Miss Patty saying this to me." Victoria stated.

"Miss Patty?" Mata asked.

"Yes. When I was little, in order to qualify for a cotillion, I had to go to Finishing School and become informed in the ways of proper etiquette. Miss Patty would always say that when we spoke, we should consider our words. If we were to offend the one we are conversing with, she would punish us by making us do laps around the building, with a book on our heads. If it fell, we would always have to start over." Victoria stated.

"I never understood that book on the head thing." Chika said. "Why do they do that?"

"It is a way to learn proper posture when walking. If the book is perfectly balanced on one's head, then they are walking as they ought to — their spine is as straight as it can be, and their head is positioned where they would make eye-contact with the one they may be speaking to. However, if at any point their posture becomes less than satisfactory, the book falls onto the ground." Bunko stated. "It is a common training exercise done in many fields. I, too, had to go through it when I was of a much younger age." Bunko stated.

"Will that be included in our examination?" Mata asked.

"No. An exercise like that has nothing to do with awakening the transformed blood inside of all of you. It will most likely only be a part of your tasks if one of you is determined to be the princess." Bunko said to them.

They entered a foyer that connected to a second corridor. They entered and exited it in a matter of minutes, and looking down the hallway, the girls could see a large, silver door up ahead. The decorations that seemed to be present in every hallway that they had passed were not present in this one, yet the same color scheme was present. At the end of it was a single, large, rectangular door. It was made of silver-colored metal, and reflected their appearances back at them. There was a seam running down the length of the door, and present in the dead center of it was a large, green-colored cross.

"This entire wing of the castle is known as The Clinic. It is two parts. The first part is where those that inhabitant the castle go for routine medical checks, emergencies, or a life-threatening injury, among other medical situations. The second part is the general hospital for the surrounding towns, and other civilians that do not hold a major connection with my family." She stated as they approached the door. "You all will be staying in the side associated with my family. I shall introduce you to the Head Nurse, Chiase, who will be the one to watch over you all while you are here. Cyon, please open the door."

"**Yes, Onagi-no-kimi." ** Cyon stated. She went to the door, and stood on its left side. There, her body blocked whatever it was that she was doing, making the girls curious.

A few moments later, she moved away to stand back at her creator's side. The four candidates watched as the large green cross that was centered on the door, began to lower. When it was an inch before the ground, a slot on the right side of the door opened, revealing goggles that looked like clear, plastic, sleek and slim sunglasses.

"Please, put these on." Bunko stated as she went to where the goggles were, and began to hand them out to the candidates. "Once we step inside, we will be engulfed in blue light. The light will kill the bacteria on us that may be harmful to the sterilized environment of The Clinic, and it is best that our eyes not be naked to it. Once we exit the area, deposit them in the containers to the side. You will feel itchy and a slight burning sensation. That is normal, so please do not be frightened by it." Bunko placed the clear goggles on, and the giant cross was sliced in two as it became the passageway to the corridor. Currently, the lights of it were regular, white lights that were used to illuminate the rest of the castle.

"Follow me." Bunko stated.

She was the first to enter, the lights turning blue immediately as she took her first step, and Cyon was the last to go into the passageway. The candidates were in between the two, and as soon as all females were inside, the door closed. The girls could feel their skin begin to become irritated as it was continuously exposed to the light.

"Do not scratch yourself." Bunko said at the exact moment that Chika was about to rake her blunt nails across her heated skin. "That would only make it worse. Do not worry, we are almost done." The door in front of Bunko opened automatically, and one-by-one they all stepped into the interior of The Clinic.

They deposited the goggles into one of the two spherical containers at the side, and the girls were awed by what they saw.

The Clinic was large. It looked just like the hospitals that they'd all visited, with a white and cream color scheme. There was the distinct smell of medicine in the air, and all around walked nurses. It seemed that the only workers were females. The patients present were heavily-armed — they looked like soldiers of the sort.

"Chiase, being the Head Nurse, is currently dealing with the more critical patients. However, if memory serves correctly, Lia ought to be taking her place and finishing the last procedures. Correct, Cyon?" Bunko asked.

"**Yes. I have received the confirmation from Lia. She is about to perform the surgery that Chiase was scheduled to do. Chiase is likely to be heading to her office, now." **Cyon stated.

"Perfect. Then allow us to head there as well." Bunko stated.

She guided the females through the area, until they reached an elevator. There, they waited as shipments of blood were carted out by two nurses and then headed in.

"Top floor, please." She stated. "Nonstop."

The elevator doors _ding_ed, and it began to ascend.

"So you don't have to press a button to get to the top floor?" Chika asked.

"No. We saw that in emergencies, that is far too time-consuming. Thus the elevator was redesigned to travel to the floor that the rider stated. It was also programmed to either go at a _regular rate_ or _nonstop_. The nonstop function means that it will not make any more stops, until it reaches the preferred destination." Bunko stated.

"This place is very efficient." Victoria said. "Are all features of the castle made to be this way?"

"Yes. With great efficiency comes less time spent with unnecessary hassles. In The Clinic, this is most important because at no cost do we want a patient to be lost, due to how slow the procedures were being carried out."

The doors _ding_ed again.

"Here we are. The top floor of The Clinic." She stated.

"That was so fast…" Chika said.

"The Clinic only contains four basic floors, and a basement. Thus five floors, total. We had been in the lobby, the first floor, and only needed to rise three floors. With the nonstop feature, the trip was a quick one." She said.

Entering the section of the hospital that was dedicated to paperwork and archiving patient files, they quickly headed to the office of the Head Nurse, Chiase.

It took little time to get there.

This section was not as big as all the others, and only contained a total of three hallways. The main hallway where the elevator and stairwells were stationed and two hallways connected to that one, on its left and right side. The Head Nurse's room was at the very end of the hallway on the left. Her door very well took up the entire space of the end of the hallway, and being made of pure mahogany and two separate doors with brass knobs.

Bunko first knocked on the door and waited for the strong response of _"Enter" _before entering. Going inside, the females were quick to land their eyes on the lone figure in the room.

The female was much older than Bunko was — a good ten to fifteen or so years older, if she recalled correctly — and currently wore the human Nurse uniform that the young girl had designed when she completely remodeled The Clinic, around three years ago.

The old uniform had created difficult and clumsy movements. Even she had trouble moving about in that mess when she tried it on to see what areas needed improvements.

She could barely walk a foot without falling…

And that was why she completely remade it. Taking into consideration how the nurses wanted it to be both functional and fashionable at the same time, while making sure that it would be easy to create robotic nurses that wore the same uniform, to improve The Clinic's response time.

The uniform consisted of a white skirt that went down a little past her thighs and was flat against her body. The golden-colored skirt was attached to a pair of white shorts as the colors naturally blended from one to the other. From the shorts, sprung faded-gold tights that went down to the boots that she had also designed. The boots went about six-inches above their ankles, and while they weren't heeled, they did hold adjustable platforms. The flap of the skirt held two zippered pockets on it that allowed the nurses to hold any personal items in one, and medical-related items in the other. This gave them less things to worry about, as well as free hands. The adjustable boots were made for comfort, and allowed each nurse to gain the required or preferred height to work. They also held some extra functions that were easily activated with a few simple taps.

The skirt they wore actually being pants not only gave them that adorable skirt-look that they all seemed to adore, but also free reign of moving how they need to, as fast as they wanted, without being restricted by the full skirt. A _skort_, she had heard the item being called.

The top of the uniform consisted of a plain, white, hypoallergenic shirt that was also attached to the top of the skirt. It was actually a dress, since dresses were much easier to slip on and off when changing, than a two-piece uniform. The material was cotton, and stretchable so as not to restrict their hand movements, like that of the old uniform.

Over this piece of long-sleeved clothing, was a small coat. The coat was a bit heavy, but didn't stop their movements, at all. For this particular nurse, it was of the same gold color as the skirt part of her bottom piece. Yet, it was bordered by white, and on the area atop her left breast, was both her name and position in the hospital, printed atop a rectangular, gold-colored pin, in black.

_Kankoshi Chiase_ — Head Nurse

It was her identification in more ways than one.

On the area covering her right breast was the insignia of the castle printed in faded-blue, and in the same color, on her back, was the medical team's symbol.

Chiase had her shiny black hair, short and cut at an angle were the front was longer than the back. The big, bouncy bangs that would normally frame her face on a regular day's work were pinned to the side with a clip that held the medical insignia on it as a decoration. It was clear that she did not want her hair to keep her from doing her job right, with the stakes having been raised higher than just healing some regular patients.

She held no hat on her head. That was impractical since it always fell off of their heads when it was part of the old uniform, and was close to restricting their breathing capability when it was _modified_ by the use of a strap to go under their chin. (Honestly, she had never seen such a ridiculous thing and was very glad that she had gotten rid of the creator of that uniform. It was no wonder why the nurses had a hard time working). Instead, on her head and that of the other nurses, Chiase wore a headband that held back her hair; it was the color of her skirt. Attached to the sides of the cloth-wrapped object was a set of soft gold and white headphones with the medical-staff insignia printed on the sides in white, over her ears; it also held a small microphone attached to it that was currently away from her mouth and could be turned on and off whenever she pleased. Communication was never a problem, and she was able to give orders to any single nurse, or to the entire staff or even hospital, with a simple thought of who she was contacting.

To cover her hands, the young girl had designed a special set of gloves that were not really gloves, but a covering that was emitted from the metallic, silver bracers that went down half-way towards the nurse's elbows. The bracers were another important piece of technology that helped to improve the amount of work that they can get done, per hour.

It not only stored information, and allowed them to edit files among other things, but the covering that created the gloves that the nurse currently wore, came from it, and were being disinfected every second of every day.

This way, the nurses wasted no time in changing their gloves. However, there were different-colored gloves, depending on the job. Currently, Chiase's gloves were colored clear, due to the fact that she was not inspecting a patient, performing surgery on them, or doing other jobs that would color them. Had she been dealing with a patient, they would be of a pale blue color, instead, like those of most of the nurses at the time.

This was the standard nursing uniform that both the human nurses wore, and was the styling for the bodies of the robotic nurses. Each nurse wore one, and the only thing that changed were their names and titles (obviously), along with the color of their uniform. The common base was white, and depending on the nurse's position, the gold parts of Chiase's uniform would be of a different color on them. Chiase, being the Head Nurse, had gold. Standard nurses wore green, and the robotic nurses had on pale-blue in those areas. The colors could also change depending on the main job of the nurse — those that worked with blood were colored red.

"Welcome. I am Kankoshi Chiase and I have the honor of being the Head Nurse of The Private Clinic. I will be the one to look over all of you while you stay here." She said with a bow at them all. "Among my position as Head Nurse of this side of The Clinic, I am also a disciple under Onagi-no-kimi, and ranked among her elite nurses. My younger sister, Akira, is Head Nurse of the public side of The Clinic, and my assistant goes by the name of Lia. She is an automaton, and is currently taking my place in a surgery at the moment. She will be the one to call for you when it is time to assess your medical statuses. I also have a young trainee, Duli, who is a pediatrician at The Public Clinic. Since she is training to be a pediatrician, she will assist me in taking care of you all. I apologize for her clumsiness."

"How often will that be?" Chika asked.

"You will all come here twice every day. Once early in the morning before you start the examinations, and once at the end of the day, after you have finished your examinations. During this time, I will be collecting blood samples from you. Thus, by the time you leave here, I would have collected fourteen blood samples from you, for the tests. Do not worry, though, the amount of blood that will be taken out is not significant. As a matter of fact, I just need enough to fill this tube, up to the indented line." Chiase zipped open the pocket on the left side of the flap of her skirt, and pulled-out a vial. It was slim, made of glass, and was not every large. She rested her pointer finger on where the line was; one-third below the tip of the 3-inch tube.

"That is… to monitor our transformed blood, right?" Mata asked as Chiase placed the vial back inside the pocket of her skirt flap.

"Correct." Chiase said. "Other times that you will come here is for emergencies, or whenever you are feeling ill. Thus, in total, I believe you may spend at least half a day in The Clinic, maximum."

"Now, if you all would please follow me, you are scheduled for a health examination at the moment."

* * *

><p>The health examination was routine for all candidates. It was a way to create more detailed medical records for the girls that were participating in the search, as well as to ensure that they were all healthy and ready to be pushed to the limits. The main reason, however, was to register just how much their blood had changed between the interval of when the girls first had their blood collected by the Guardians that had been with them, and up to that moment.<p>

"You should all have experienced an odd dream, at some point." Chiase said as she prepared the different vials that would hold the samples of blood for each separate female. She was currently placing stickers on them, while four other nurses began to get the girls ready. "If my memory serves correctly, you should have been visited by two Guardians. One was the Guardian that formed your two-person Scout team, and the other should have been a blue-haired female. For one of you, there was only one Guardian present."

"In this dream, you should have been taken to a lodging of some sort. Whether it be a castle, an underwater world, a volcano, or something along those lines. I am not sure — I do not know all the details, myself. However, I do know that you should have at least seen this object." She paused in her preparation of the vials to show to them a white cylinder. There was a glowing green band going around it, and showing them the tips, the candidates could clearly see the small, circular hole that was in the center of a metallic casing.

"I… vaguely remember that…" Chika said.

"This device is used to implant chips. During this dream — which I am now confirming that it was reality — this device was used to place a small, tablet-shaped capsule inside of all of you. After the capsule was inside, it quickly caused you all to lose consciousness, and after a sample of your regular, non-transformed blood was taken, the capsule then broke apart and unleashed a dust inside your body. You were all then returned home and most likely awoke in your beds — thus you believed that the experience was most likely a dream, when you awakened." The expressions of the girls' faces were full of shock and surprise. They couldn't believe what they just heard. "I would like to apologize for this. However, allow me to tell you the reasons why this was done."

She began to hand to the nurses that had prepared the girls, the vials with their names stickered on. Chiase was sure to look at the name intently, and the face of the girl, before handing over the vial. She would not allow the blood samples to be mixed. Thankfully, pictures had been sent to her with the medical records of the girls, and she had memorized them.

"Inside the capsule, along with the dust, is a microchip that is the first half to the system that is being used to monitor your health statuses. The second half is a collar that melded with your skin, after you encountered the tablets sent to each one of you. The powder that formed from the dissolved capsule not only served as a means to cause you all to fall asleep for a long time, but also traveled into your blood vessels and began to affect your blood cells. It was an activator for the transformed blood that has been dormant inside of all your bodies. After it was given the boost by the powder, your blood has been coerced by the candy that you were given. Milky, chocolate balls, if my memory serves right."

There was an audible gasp. Chiase paused after handing the last tube to the female who would take the blood out of Mata, and turned to where the gasp had come from.

It came from Bunny, who looked mortified as she sat in the chair, with her sleeve rolled-up, skin of her arm wetted, and her hand clenching around a hollow tube. The nurse was currently wrapping a thin blue band around her upper arm, getting ready to take the blood out.

Chiase went over to the girl.

"_Bunny Sánchez_…" She said in an odd way, trying to pronounce the sound of the letters correctly. "You have caused some controversy over your earlier request. Not to mention, the chip that was installed in you has been taken-out."

Bunny's eyes widened. "W-what?" She asked.

"The chip that creates the two parts of the monitoring system was removed before the collar was placed on you. I can tell. Is that not why you are wearing a turtleneck even though the temperature inside the castle is kept fairly warm, and you most likely had time to change into suitable clothing after you arrived?" She asked. Bunny didn't respond. She only remained quiet, with a horrified and nervous look in her eyes. She flinched, however, when the needle was inserted in her skin. Despite the conversation, the nurse working on her would not let it stall her job. They had a schedule to keep.

"I can see the red ring on your neck, even though you have surely been trying your very best to hide it. The collar, without the chip, has begun to irritate your skin. It cannot remain without it for long, or risk burning your neck."

She was petrified.

"Onagi-no-kimi, I will have to reinsert and properly calibrate the chip within Miss Sánchez. Since the tests start tomorrow and she will most likely fall asleep once again when the chip is inserted, I suggest that she be brought here before she goes to sleep. For the night, she can rest in one of patient beds."

"I will make sure that she be brought here. Cyon, would you mind bringing her here tonight?" Bunko asked.

"**Not at all." **Cyon responded.

"To not be a bother to you, Cyon, I would prefer to have Lia be the one to bring her here. After all, there is really no reason for you to bring her here when Lia can." Chiase said.

"**Very well, then." **

"I shall schedule it immediately." Chiase stated, making a mental note of it.

A few minutes later, all of the girls had their blood taken out, and were preparing to leave The Clinic since that was the last part of their physical examination. They were getting dressed in their regular clothes once again as Bunko and Cyon were having a conversation with Chiase regarding the medical schedule for the girls, and what it is that ought to be looked for in the blood tests, among other things.

Mainly: the fact that Bunny's chip was removed.

"**Will an investigation have to be launched?" **Cyon asked. **"After all, this is not something that can be removed without knowledge that it was there. Surely the one who took it out know what they were doing — they could sense she had it."**

"It is a perplexing situation. I would go ask Seikatsu-san if she knew anything about this, but I can sense that she would be as clueless as we are. Seikatsu-san may not be the most motivated to work, but she _is_ highly determined to do her assigned jobs, correctly. If the young girl's chip was removed with her knowing, she would have reported it back to us." Bunko stated.

"I could look over her file once again and see if there was any mention of the chip being removed. While I am certain that I read it over diligently and made sure not to miss a single word, I believe that it is possible that something was missed." Chiase stated, putting away the first batch of blood samples.

"That would be a waste of time. I reviewed the medical records of each girl earlier, and had a small conference with the Guardians. Seikatsu-san did not mention anything about the chip. I suspect she believes that it has always been there since the day she and Ikusei-san installed it inside of the young Earth female." Bunko crossed her arms over her chest. "This is a serious issue. This conversation is leading to the possibility that someone on Earth is aware that the girl, Bunny, is not human and that we have made contact with her. They do not want this, clearly, and possibly removed the chip to disable contact between she and us."

"**I wonder if they know the procedure to properly remove the device from within one's body." **Cyon said. **"If so, it is possible that the person may be a spy from Animetra. Only our medical facility knows of the existence of these chips, and how they function."**

"There is always the possibility of a hacker. Files on the chip are stored within our computer system." Chiase stated.

"Impossible. The technology required to do such a thing is far in front of Earth's time. For them to gain the necessary materials, in any way, would mean that there is either a traitor amongst us, or our technology is being pirated."

"**This is troubling." **Cyon said. **"I had a feeling that girl would cause nothing but problems. That is all she has been doing since contact was established."**

"Cyon, I ask that you not overheat."

"**Forgive me, Onagi-no-kimi. It is just that I do not see why it is that she is a candidate. She does not have the skill to be a candidate. In the past, all the candidates have been spectacular females gifted amazing talents. What is she able to do? I understand that being capable of drawing is a much-wanted talent, however—"**

"Cyon, please let this be the last time you say such a thing. I shall not allow you to besmirch the art world. You forget: Imouto-chan was an artist."Bunko stated, not liking the way that Cyon was referring to the girl's gift.

"**I—I… forgive me for my heartlessness, Onagi-no-kimi. I meant no disrespect towards the passions of Onagi-hidenka." **Cyon stated. **"I just… I do not want that girl to be a waste of time and effort. I admit that I find this situation suspicious, and believe that it prompts further investigation, but if it turns-out that this was just the result of an error such as the chip possibly falling out for not being implanted deeply in her skin, then—" **Cyon paused, feeling as though her words were getting useless. **"I simply do not want precious time to be wasted."**

Bunko sighed.

"In order to discover whether she is truly Imouto-chan or not, we must not let the slightest detail pass us by. This situation will be further investigated. I shall ask her second Scout left on Earth to look into it further. Judging by her expression when Chiase-san told her of it, the girl was as clueless as us about why the chip was missing." She stated. "However, this investigation will only continue for the seven days that she is here. Once she leaves, if it is proven that she is _not_ Imouto-chan, the investigation will come to a standstill and we will move on from her."

"Cyon, guide the candidates to the next location. They are to go to the Virtual Reality Chamber in the East Hall. I will be there in a few moments. There are a few things I must do." Without a word, Cyon nodded and headed over to where the girls were waiting. She wasted no time in getting them to leave the area.

"If you do not mind me asking, what is it that you must do, Onagi-no-kimi?"Chiase asked.

"I must locate something, as well as organize the investigation. If you would not mind, tell me when the chip has been reinserted in the young girl. Perhaps it was a faulty mistake? If that is the case, then it may just fall out, once again. Also, whenever she comes here, I would like you to keep a close eye on her, Chiase-san."

"As you wish, Onagi-no-kimi? May I ask the reason why?"

"When the chip is not there to help stabilize the collar, the intense burning sensation is far too much for an Earth human to keep secret, for long. Yet, she does not seem affected by it. She is able to endure very painful things, as though they are nothing. I believe this to be the result of the possibility that her transformed blood has awoken quicker than we thought it would. If this is the case, then she should start to exhibit signs of change within her body. Keep a close on her because of that. If you see anything abnormal, tell me about it."

"Will do, Onagi-no-kimi."

* * *

><p>.<p>

* * *

><p>Later that night, after a good day spent touring around the massively beautiful castle that they would be housed in for the next week, the candidates found themselves adding the finishing touches to their personal spaces in their shared bedroom, as well as cooling down after a long day of walking.<p>

They were watching TV. They were shown it by Cyon, who wildly surprised them with a giant flat screen that hung above the doorway, and was hidden by a panel of the wall. The screen was set on a moving, metallic frame that automatically moved out of its holding station, and into a more visible area for the females, once the panel was removed. The remote was debated over and handed to Chika, who was the most enthusiastic about watching TV.

She was currently flipping through channels from Earth. The satellite used allowed them to watch programs from many different planets — Earth included since many of the inhabitants of the planet often visited Earth in disguise, and had picked up on some of the programming there.

She was ecstatic.

The other candidates, who had finished bathing and unpacking, weren't as focused on watching television as Chika was.

Victoria was in the bathroom preparing her hair for a long night of rest (if she left it as it was, it would be quite difficult to manage in the mornings), Mata was recording some of the things that she had learned in an empty journal that she had brought (she would not leave this planet — this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity — without a descent record of what she'd gone through), and Bunny was trying to drown her worries in a drawing (she allowed her mind to take over, but tried to restrain herself from drawing anything that may resemble what she'd seen, at the castle).

When Chika had finally settled upon a channel that was having an anime marathon, the door to the room opened.

Inside walked an unknown female.

She was a somewhat tall woman, standing at around five-foot-four without the aid of any shoes, with a flattering body. Her breasts weren't very big, smaller than the average size of a woman her age, and her flat stomach curved easily into her slim hips. She had a pretty face. A matured look naturally created and bestowed upon her, with shining, large green eyes that were surrounded by black eyelashes. However, the size of these eyes was hidden by the way they were half-lidded, and their shine was barely visible through the bored expression clouding them. Her nose was like a button, and the only makeup present on her face was the lip-gloss that was present on the slightly plump, pinkish features. Her lips were in a solemn line, showing just how fully uninterested she was.

She had platinum blonde hair. It was pulled back into a single ponytail, with the tip resting just past her neck. She held no bangs on her face, but rather none of her hair had ever been cut to form them, and the locks all formed the ponytail on her head.

The clothing she wore was the same nursing outfit that the girls had closely seen Chiase wear, earlier that day. The main differences included her position in the hospital, which they did not know of since the only thing present on the plaque was her name: _Lia_. The color of her uniform was also different. Besides the base coat of white, the sections of faded gold that were part of Chiase's uniform were pale-blue on hers.

"**I have come to retrieve Bunny Sánchez." **Lia said to the females, not bothering with the introductions.

The girls all looked in Bunny's direction. The young girl, already dressed in her pajamas for the night, looked at the automaton inside of the room with a very nervous expression on her face. Lia, following the gazes of the other three girls, immediately locked onto her target.

"**Come. Chiase-sama is a very busy person and cannot afford to waste her time on you." **She stated.

Nodding her head, Bunny made quick and flustered movements as she tried to put her things away. She placed her drawing book in the top drawer of the nightstand next to her bed, and then slipped her feet inside of her slippers. She was a mess as she began to put on the robe that she'd brought, not wanting to show her pajamas to all of those who saw her. Once the rope was tied around her waist, keeping the robe closed, she hurried to Lia — whose bored expression was still present.

Without a response, Lia allowed Bunny to leave the room, and then closed the door. She guided the girl to The Clinic, and up to the third floor where the patient rooms were held.

In room 29-C, was Chiase preparing herself to install the chip back inside of Bunny. Bunny noticed, as she sat down on the bed present there and Lia began to hook her up to machines that would monitor her vitals over the night, among other things, that besides the white tube that had been shown to her and the others earlier, there were some other things present there. She didn't get a good glimpse at them, however, and could only conclude that they were electronic.

She was nervous as she sat there, having taken-off the robe at Lia's request, and waiting for Chiase to finish whatever it was that she was doing.

"This will hurt, but only for a moment." Chiase said to her as she walked over to the side of the bed, with a silver metallic tray in her hands. She then placed it on the small shelf that hung near the side of the bed, and began to get the cylinder ready. "Since we already have your unaffected blood sample, the dust and chip will be released the moment they are inside of your body, and this will cause you to sleep immediately. You will remain here for the night, and will be awakened in the morning and taken back to your dwelling. Do not be concerned over your stay here, for the night. This is an extremely secure facility, and you will be protected by two guards placed outside of your door." Noticing the look of confusion on the Earth female's face, Chiase said, "The princess candidates are very important. If one so happens to be Onagi-hime, and she is dealt a fatal blow, then the search would be all for nothing, and our princess would never return. That is _not_ something we wish to happen." Making an expression that said she understood, Bunny turned her head away from Chiase and looked-up at the ceiling lights.

"Lower your collar." Chiase said. Bunny did as such, and showed to her the red ring that was slowly growing on her neck. "Hm… judging by the size, the chip has been removed for around two weeks, now… Does it burn?" Bunny shook her head. "You feel no pain?" She nodded.

_Interesting… Onagi-no-kimi would like to know of this…_ The Head Nurse thought.

"Keep looking ahead. Do not move your head under any circumstances, and take in a deep breath." Chiase stated as she prepared to implant the chip, once again. The gloves that the suit created changed to green. "I am not going to lie to you and say something along the lines of trying to relax, because the procedure will be over quickly. Instead, brace yourself. I apologize at the fact that this does not soothe your nervousness."

"I-i-i-it… it's o-k-k-k-kay…" Bunny managed to say.

She could feel Chiase get close, and something cold was then pressed around her neck. She shut her eyes tightly and gulped.

"Good night."

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><p>Ugh! Another boring chapter — I'm telling you all, I'm a little too eager to move out of the explanation chapters and advance in the events that take place in the story. But I do like this chapter, because it gives a little insight into the functions of North Animetra Castle. It's helping me flesh that place out more, and not make it seem so… ethereal. The explanation in this chapter is to clarify the events of chapter three, <em>Bunny in Ygvarland<em>. See? I'm not leaving things _hanging_. This just demonstrates that every question you have will (hopefully) get answered by the time I complete this story. Anyways… I really hope that you guys enjoyed this chapter, and look forward to the next one. Next chapter officially begins the examinations for just _who_ is the missing princess. Place your bets, _now_!

Next chapter: The Princess Competition — Day One. The girls begin to get assessed in their skills. If any of them are planning to impress and gain a great amount of attention that will put them at the top of the list, this is the day to do it!

Please review with your thoughts, concerns, commentary, etc.

~Chibi


	11. The Princess Competition — Day One

Hello, hello! I realized while I was reviewing my plan for this that this story is going to be _really long_. Like, I have about five or six arcs of it planned down to each event that would take place (yeah, I've taken it to that extent to avoid running out of what to do next), and considering how we're only… kinda halfway done with the first arc and it's already the eleventh installment of this, I'm getting nervous about the finishing word count for this. At this point, I feel like it'll have around 100 chapters and over one million words! 0.0

I own _everything_!

Enjoy! ^^

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><p><span>Animetra Princess<span>

_**Chapter 10: The Princess Competition — Day One**_

***By Chibi Star Vamp***

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><p>Saturday Morning...<p>

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><p>Sighing, Bunko could not help but to set down the tea that she had previously been enjoying — or rather, <em>trying to enjoy<em>. While it was the same early-morning tea that she had requested to be prepared for her to indulge in at the start of every new day for her, she could not feel as energetic as she would normally be.

"Really, this is a dying shame." She said as she placed the teacup atop the tiny plate back on the silver tray that stood on cat-footed legs and hung above her blanketed thighs.

"**I understand that you are upset over the developments, Onagi-no-kimi, but there is nothing that you can do about it." **Cyon stated. She went to grab the little teacup, knowing perfectly well that Bunko would no longer drink from it now that her mood had soured.

She believed that a sour mood was distasteful to the tongue. The young Princess refused to drink anything unless she was at the emotional bare minimum of neutral. The moment her lips had tilted downwards and her face had contorted itself to take on a negative expression, Bunko's appetite was gone.

"Of all the times to be informed of this… Has that woman no sense of punctuality or compromise? I mean no disrespect towards her, but I would prefer to have an instructor whom tried to make the class as simple as possible. Let us say that I was of a… below-average intelligence and entering a pre-calculus class: Do you believe that with that woman as a teacher, I would be able to endure the amount of work that would be shoved in my face as though it were a humorous hoax on the first of April?" She asked her loyal creation.

"**No, I would not. Not unless you were referring to **_**Black Humor**_** — the literature beneath it holds many situations such as that. Pain can be quite comical." **Cyon stated.

"This situation is not meant to represent _Black Humor_."

"**Then it is no longer hysterical, and is bordering on punishment. I assure you, Onagi-no-kimi, I would not allow my master to be unfairly punished. However…" **Cyon stated with a momentary sigh as she lifted the silver tray from above Bunko's lap, and began to place it on a large table with only a single vase as its decoration. It was a piece of the geometric movement that had taken place in the world of art, holding mathematical shapes that represented the bodies of moving and/or still figures. **"I have tried to speak with your teacher before, and she… well… is never open to compromise, as you previously stated. I do believe that she is not very well qualified to teach at such a prestigious academy."**

"I agree. Yet who am I to say such a thing? We all have our own methods to go about similar work. While her techniques can easily be described as unorthodox, in my delicate opinion, others may not see it as that."

"**Others may call it: **_**Her doing her job**_**."**

"Exactly my point." The young Princess stated as she began to get off of her bed. She moved aside the softly-colored blankets that had shielded her from the cold, almost-winter chill that was beginning to take place, and slipped her feet into her plush, morning shoes. Since she was dressed in simply her monochromatic nightgown, Cyon went over to her with a robe of silk with flowers printed onto its magenta-colored base, and began to wrap it around the young female.

"**I am certain that you are not the only one upset about the sudden announcement. Surely there will be several students secretly berating her in their minds." **

"The Class page on _Silver_ has filled my inbox with tedious notifications holding the rants of my peers." She stated as Cyon tied the sash of the robe around her waist, and began to pull her hair back from inside the new layer of clothing. "I cannot blame them, however, for wanting to skip today's school day in order to try and meet the deadline for the first part of the assignment."

"**This is the fifth time that such a thing has been done." **Cyon said as she and Bunko headed to the main doors of the bedroom, and walked into one of the many hallways of the Tatami House. **"I do not see a bright future for that woman."**

"Nor do I." Bunko sighed as she tried to shift her mood from glowering over the bomb that had been dropped upon her and her classmates early that Saturday morning, to the other time-consuming event that she had on her hands. "How are the preparations for the examinations going?" She asked.

"**I have made contact with Lia. She is currently awakening the young Earth visitors and instructing them throughout the day, in place of myself. They will be here to eat breakfast in…" **She paused to access the clock in her system. **"…Thirty minutes — with the possible addition or reduction of one to two minutes, of course — and after their morning meals, they will all return to The Clinic and begin the examinations."**

"Have you calculated a success rate for one of _them _being my dear Imouto-chan?" Bunko asked.

Cyon hesitated to answer, sensing her creator's mood begin to take a nose dive into depression. Why did she insist on torturing herself with thoughts of her younger sibling? Surely at the moment her mind was replaying several moments from when the two were together, before the princess was snatched away from the property. Yet, she answered anyhow.

"**It is the same as for the previous examinations—"**

"No." She said sternly. "Combine all the previous data. Out of the forty-four girls that we have studied, what are the odds that _one of them_ is Imouto-chan? After all, the possibility still remains that we may have overlooked details from before…"

Cyon inwardly sighed.

"**The probability that out of forty-four females, one of them is Onagi-hidenka is—"**

"Forgive me, but I change my mind — I do not wish to have that number read out to me. Surely my heart will tear at the low chance. Truly this — all of this — is a game of luck. One so difficult that the odds of getting _lucky_ and hitting the jackpot will never become favorable."

"…**With each time that we have played it and lost, we are only bringing ourselves closer to a win." **

"…Is that so?" Bunko asked as they finally reached the inner bath house that accompanied the traditional architecture. After heading over to where there was a station for her to sit and have a pre-wash before she entered the large, stone-made hot spring that was currently filling itself with relaxing hot water now that the room had sensed the entry of its Ancient Princess, Cyon began to remove the clothing from the female's body — after which, Bunko took a seat on the cushioned wooden stool that was there.

"_How many times must we lose_, is the question I shall ask."

"**That is a question most befitting for yourself. I am not gifted with the capability of looking ahead into time." **At this, the Princess frowned. She went-up to touch the silver headband that was present on her head, with her hands. With her slim, childlike fingers she went over its smooth and metallic surface, managing to feel the faint heartbeat of its inner workings.

"How ironic that one who can transcend time cannot use that _gift_ to fulfill her selfish desires. Or rather, is that not the very reason why she is incapable of reaching past the gates of the future? All she can do is relive those memories with the _curse_ placed upon her. All she can do… is think about it over… and over… and over, again…"

"**Onagi-no-kimi…" **Cyon said softly. She had been preparing some of the water that she would use to scrub her master's body down gently, and prepare it to be rejuvenated in the water of the rock-clad hot spring, but seeing how the eyes of the purple-haired girl had gone into a daze as she sat, nakedly, on the stool and seemed to become highly-interested in the engraving on the walls, Cyon stopped doing her work and immediately went over to the girl.

She did not hesitate as she brought Bunko into a hug.

"**None of it is your fault…" **She whispered softly into secondary-colored hair. **"If it was, your mother and father would have put the blame on you. Your whole planet would have categorized this disaster beneath your name. You may have, possibly, been stripped of everything. None of that has happened, and therefore, none of it is your fault. Just because you have that gift — or rather, **_**curse**_** — does not mean that you are able to use it properly. It is the same as giving a weapon to an untrained soldier. Yes, they know the basics, but until they are fully trained, they will not be able to make that weapon an extension of themselves, and they cannot be blamed for the consequences that come with being uneducated about their weapon."**

In her arms, Bunko did not respond. With her mind running through the highly detailed scenes of everything that she had been able to experience using her gift about _that day_, she was too caught in a whirlwind of painful emotions to respond.

Finally, she released herself from Cyon's arms and responded with: "Time cannot be spent wallowing in the past and future. We must focus on the present." She said with a strong voice.

Cyon went back to her work, not commenting furthermore on the unpleasant subject. **"I have contacted Itorashi-hidenka for you. She is eagerly awaiting your arrival at the academy. I have also begun download on possible project topics. Given the characteristics of both you and Itorashi-hidenka, I believe that the list of ten that I am currently compiling will be to both of your pleasures." **She dipped her hand which held a sponge coated in soap, inside of the wooden basin to her side which held warm water, and began to wash her master's bare back; Bunko having already moved aside all of her hair.

"I thank you graciously for your efforts. Before we leave, please inform Tentouchuu of this when she awakens from her sleep. Given the nature of the assignment, I believe she will be a valuable asset to have."

"During my absence, I want reports created from everyone who comes in contact with one of those girls. If at any moment someone feels something, I want that girl to be researched immediately — even something as simple as a spark created from making contact with them could determine whether they are or are not Imouto-chan."

"If at any moment they get farther away from being my beloved little sister, send them home. I will no longer continue to pamper them for the remainder of the seven days, when it is clear that they are of no use to us, any longer. Inform the Guardians of this change, as well."

"**I shall do as you desire, Onagi-no-kimi."**

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><p>The four candidates were being led by the silent automaton to The Private Clinic. Lia, who had been watching over them with eyes as cold and harsh as an unforgiving winter storm, did not get much rowdiness from them. From what she had learned of the four new candidates from her subordinates, they each held special personalities. Two of wish, one of confidence and another of extreme excitement, could at least have determined that she'd be the witness of a comment every now and then.<p>

Yet, they did not open their mouths to speak to her. They were silent; one could hear a pin drop onto a ceramic-tiled floor if the situation occurred while they were all in each other's presence.

She enjoyed this.

They arrived at The Clinic in five minutes, with the elder blonde mentally cursing at the large distances that were forced upon her due to the castle's design. She took them through the sterilizing corridor, and into one of the elevators. Only, unlike what they had experienced yesterday, Lia sent the elevator down to the basement, instead into one of the floors above them.

The basement, they found, was an entirely different world.

The walls were white, as well as the lights and the tiles present on the floor. What little doors they were able to define were painted white as well, with black door handles to grasp on to. The nurses found there wore the same uniform as Lia, but the other color that accompanied their white base coat was white. Thus, they wore all, color-deflecting fabric. There was an eerie silence about the basement that caused chills to run up the spines of the girls, further provoked by the cold weather.

"**Chiase-sama is waiting for you all. Here is where the first round of examination will be conducted on you. Blood samples will be taken, and then you shall enter the devices that will be used to test you. While I cannot tell you much of them, I shall say this: It is a single device, one for each of you, and you will remain in there for twenty-four hours. Afterwards, you may, more or less, remember what happened while you were inside of the device, or for the full day. Due to the duration of the exam, you will not receive any more sustenance for the day. Do not worry, however, as the following day you will be greeted with a hot meal."**

The girls did not respond, but Lia knew that they had heard her and understood. They may be shocked that they would not be doing anything physical. After all, she was well-aware of what they had received. She, having needing to go on-site to deal with one of the previous candidates who had an episode, knew that the awakening of one's transformed blood was strictly a physical and mental matter. The girls would be put in physical situations whose main goal was to get them to become familiar with it and unleash their hidden side — but not the first round of examinations. This round, which would help to determine if there was something _there_ that the castle should waste time and effort on as they coaxed it out of the girl, was strictly a non-physical, biological matter.

The double white doors at the end of the corridor that they walked through required her to scan her hand in order to gain entry. This new area was heavily-populated with white-suit wearing nurses that had goggles concealing their eyes. The color of the gloves on their hands was black, and they easily intimidated the young Earth girls.

With the darkly colored goggles concealing their eyes, the girls were uncertain whether anyone was looking at them or not. The people seemed to line-up in an orderly fashion as they walked in the hallways, as if they were in some pseudo-world from a science fiction movie where the entire area was controlled by a single figure head, and all of those living there had no free will of their own. They would walk the streets in straight lines, with schedules stating when this or that would be done. If someone were to step out of line, the girls supposed that the concealed figures that were dressed in all-black and stood against the walls, silently watching, would make sure that the foolish person would never step out of line again.

Needless to say, it was a tense atmosphere.

No one dared to open their mouths and speak. While they would not admit it, they were afraid of what would happen if they broke the silence that filled the space. Would they be scolded? Removed from the program? Punished?

What would the blonde nurse in front of them, with eyes that looked upon the world in a frivolous and unforgiving way, do to them if they suddenly spoke up?

One of them tried to speak, but as soon as she opened her mouth, she closed it once again. She was afraid.

Minutes into the endless silence, they arrived at a black door. This one was heavily-secured, and was found deeper beneath the basement, at the end of a long corridor that few had ever gone into. It was one of those places that held the most vital technology that was present in the hospital. It was technology that was used outside of the medical facility, to serve the Royal Family in different ways.

_**They should be honored to be entering this room… **_Lia thought in her head as she began to go through the security measures that it took to get behind those pristine black doors. _**Very few get admittance into it… What am I saying? They are Earth creatures — things such as honor and pride are their downfall. If they feel any sort of pleasure from entering in here, it will only lead to cockiness later on. Besides, they will have no memory of this room, the following morning…**_

The girls covered their mouths to hold in their screams as, unexpectedly behind them, steel panels came down one-by-one and made the corridor shorter. After five panels, the tiny box that they were now in was sprayed down with gas.

They coughed as the gas assaulted them, and then soon they lost consciousness and fell to the ground.

Lia did nothing but move aside. As the gas died-down, the door opened and out came four figures clad in baggy, all-white suits carrying circular devices in their hands.

"**These are the four Earth candidates. Be gentle." **Lia stated before heading inside of the facility, and easily making her way inside and locating Chiase. It was not hard to find the Head Nurse. Among the bland and nearly all-white color scheme, Chiase stuck-out like a blooming, vibrant flower among a field of dead grass, in her gold-colored uniform.

Going to her superior's side, Lia greeted her.

"**My job is done for the day. I am going back to The Clinic and remaining there. Cyon-sama should be arriving in a matter of minutes, anyhow." **She said with a dead gaze.

Chiase, who had been overlooking the inspections of the machines present in the room, laughed a little at this. The side of her painted lips rose to form an amused smile. "My guess is that you have had enough of human interaction for the day." She stood from her hunched-over position above an electronic table that held a huge touch screen as its top, and looked at the face of the blonde automaton.

"**Not with humans, but with Earthlings. I find them appalling." **

"That is because you have never had the chance to be around Earthlings, before. They are not so different from Animetrans. I am certain that if you took the time to be with these girls more, you would become quite fond of Earthlings." The deadpanned look that Lia gave her showed that her comment was not agreed with.

"**Is that supposed to be humorous?" **

"Not at all — I am being earnest."

"**Then I will have to earnestly decline that offer. If Earthlings were truly not as bad as they seemed, then their planet would still have the glory that it once did. Now it is nothing but a pitiful shadow of its old self, with a high level of weakness."**

Chiase sighed.

"I will not deny that there are many downsides to Earth, but we cannot let the current generation, who know nothing of its past, suffer for it. These girls are good people. I will not tell you to become friends with them, but I will tell you to be pleasant when in their presence."

"**Pleasantry is not in my programming."**

"False. It _is_ in your programming, but I am certain you have made it seem something along the lines of spam and placed a firewall over any possible positive personality that you may have." Chiase stated. Lia responded with her green eyes narrowing even more.

"**I am leaving." **With a flip of her small ponytail, she created a short breeze as she took her leave. From the way she walked and her footsteps were heavy, Chiase knew that she had angered the younger female.

She mentally sighed.

_Perhaps I will get her a treat later on? She is set to have a personal day sometime the next month… _Chiase knew that if there was anything Lia loved, it was being able to _not_ have to deal with anyone for a couple days.

Her thoughts quickly shifted from making up with her angered companion, to the task at hand as Cyon entered through the doorway; followed by four gurneys that were without wheels, but instead hovered high in the air thanks to the anti-gravity technology that was used to create them, holding the sleeping candidates. Already they had been prepped to go into the machines. Their bodies were draped in special white blankets that would make it easy to develop x-rays of them, their hair was covered by white caps that kept it all in one place, and they had an air supply that was fully-stocked and attached to their faces in the form of a see-through mask. The mask was connected to four large containers of air that were hooked on either side of the gurneys, and used a system of tubes to transport the air from the metallic canisters, to the masks, one after the other.

Inserted into the arteries present within the back of their elbows were special needles connected to plastic tubes. The needles would not be used to remove blood. Rather, they were probes that could easily be controlled within the girls' bodies, with small circular orbs at the top. Liquid will be transferred into the needles, and then a current of electricity that can easily be contained inside of the orbs will be used to transfer properties from the liquid inside, to the blood cells of the young girls. Depending on what the cells reacted to, the girl would be more or less that creature.

She knew that during their meal, their bodies had internally been prepped to go through the testing, as well, and that coupled with the gas that had caused them to pass-out, and the constant feeding of special candy by the Guardians whilst they were on Earth, their blood should be highly reactive, right now. Thus they would have no problem with getting a reaction.

"**Good morning, Kankoshi-san." **Cyon stated as she greeted the woman. As they often did, the two women shook hands.

"Good morning, Cyon. I hope Onagi-no-kimi managed to get prepared for her trip quickly, and leave without any setbacks." She stated as she released the hand.

"**Yes, she did. She decided upon using a summoning spell instead of a Pod, to get there. Luckily, Itorashi-hidenka had already thought of the same thing, and had created the link between them, very quickly. I do believe that she is already there." **

"Good, good."

"**I see that the girls have already been prepared to go into the BER machines." **Cyon said as she watched the white-cloaked nurses begin to hook the gurneys up to the outer poles of the machine. The poles were on robotic arms, and would later help to transfer the girls inside of the machines, themselves.

The BER machines, also known as the _Blood Electrical Reactor_ machines, used small electrical currents that were produced within the orbs at the tip of the special needles, to transfer samples of blood that would fill the orb, into the blood of the receiver. At times the blood itself may be transferred, and other times, such as then, only the properties of the blood would be transferred. The goal was to have blood cells of the receiver touch the orb. Then, using the data collected by the orbs as the cells and metallic surface collided, they would be able to determine the possible true species of the creature.

This technology had been used to decode the identity of spies or those who had been snooping around the castle using an alias, and now it was used to determine who the princess was.

"Yes. I believe that we will be ready to start in ten minutes." Chiase stated.

"**Have you brought the blood samples?" **Cyon asked.

"Of course." Chiase responded. "I have already placed them in the proper machines, along with a small sample of Onagi-hidenka's blood. That reminds me: We are running low on her blood. We have used it to test so many candidates, that we have only around three ounces of it left, total."

"**Hm… If worst comes to worst, I do believe that so long as the blood belongs to a member of her immediate family, then the reaction will be the same. Of course, this is a theory. I have to run it through with Onagi-no-kimi, first." **Cyon could not help but sigh a little as she watched the girls become fully attached to the robotic arms outside of the machine.

"I will take on the duty of asking her that, later on, if you would not mind." Chiase responded. She knew that with Cyon going to be busy running the Tatami House and handling the role of the director of the examination during the absence of the Princess, she should not take time away from her day to do something so simple. She, being the main nurse that would be handling the girls, would gladly do it in place of the automaton.

"**Thank you." **Cyon said.

"Kankoshi-sama, I request a check." Called out the first nurse who was done setting-up the girl in her care.

As was a required safety precaution, before they conducted this experiment, the Head Nurse or most highly-ranked person present with knowledge of everything that was going on, would have to double-check that the present girls were successfully set to be examined. This was to avoid any malfunctions, such as the electrical current being too intense and being able to provide excruciating damage to the female, as well as the blood leaking out and disrupting the assessment.

Chiase quickly double-checked the set-up. She paid close attention to the safety features and made sure that the girl was locked in place, as well as that the correct blood samples were set for that specific girl.

She had to pause and transfer the six tubes of blood from one BER machine to the other, as she noticed that it did not fit the girl. Once that was done and she looked over everything again, she gave the four nurses the _all clear_, and she and Cyon began to head to the observation room that was present.

It would not be safe for either of them, who were not dressed in the proper material to handle the waves that would later on coat the room, to stay inside there.

They entered the smaller room, which held the controls for the machines, as well as several screens to view what was going on, and began to set everything up. Looking out through the large window that was in front of them, and produced through a large rectangular cut-out of a thick wall, along with special glass, Chiase continued to monitor the nurses as Cyon did the main work.

After all, it was her job to make sure that there were no physical disturbances in the room, while Cyon would take care of the internal disturbances, and continue to monitor the machinery, and adjust as asked.

"**Room temperature is desirable. The BER machines are heating up, and I need a confirmation on the status of the girls." **Cyon said.

"The girls' health statuses depict green." Chiase stated. She had small holograms in front of her that contained the health statuses of each girl, with their name labeling the image and information in front of her. "The only one not in perfect health is Bunny Sánchez, and that is due to the chip having been replanted inside of her. She has a minor rise in temperature, but that is to be expected." She paused as she activated the two-way communication between the rooms, and spoke into the microphone.

"**Bunny Sánchez, the candidate in machine 03, does not have perfect health, thus she holds a higher risk than the others. Exercise extreme caution when monitoring her." **She spoke. The nurse that was stationed to watch machine 03 nodded at her, stating that she would do as such.

Chiase then turned the microphone off.

"Now is not the time to take any chances." Chiase stated to Cyon as the machines continued to warm-up. It was during that time the girls were being brought inside. The machines were designed to match the appearance of a CTG scanner, which was used to perform CT scans. Thus, they would continuously lay down flat on their backs, inside the body of the machines. The main differences were obvious, including the glass that covered the opening of the machines; completely sealing the young girls inside.

"**I am reminded of what Onagi-no-kimi said to me before her leave." **Cyon stated. **"She states that if at any moment one discovers that true species of the girl is not what it ought to be, that girl is to be sent immediately home. She will not remain in Animetra for the last of the seven days. With the deadline approaching, time cannot be wasted entertaining someone who is of no use to us." **

"I will inform my staff of this change." Chiase stated. A beeping sound reached their ears. "The test is ready to commence." She then said to those present in the other room, **"Load the first blood sample, and set the reactors to the first setting."**

When this was done, a green light appeared on each BER machine that was fully visible to her and Cyon. They were also given a message inside of the room stating that the numbered BER machine was ready. Double-checking and getting prepared to fully observe what would go on inside of the girls' bodies, Cyon and Chiase started the examinations.

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><p>Over twelve hours into it, they had discovered nothing. While the girls were reactive to certain bloods that were in favor of them, there had been one reaction that stood above the others.<p>

Mata, whose blood had reacted with that of an earth-based creature that was well known for its extreme connection to nature, had begun to change physically. After her blood came in contact with a small drop of the creature's blood that had been released upon order from an observation made by Cyon, the rest of her cells had begun to exhibit changes. Normally this would not happen automatically, but take one or two days before any changes occurred.

Yet as soon as that one drop of blood entered her veins, it had sparked a chain reaction so large, that within an hour, Mata's blood had taken on the properties of her true species.

"This is remarkable." Chiase stated. She had begun to mainly watch Mata, while Cyon took care of the other three girls. With each hour that passed, she grew more and more sure that Mata was a creature of nature, and would need to be sent home, immediately. "Nearly each cell has been converted. If we were to take her out now and wait a day for the reaction to finish, there is no doubt in my mind that she would begin to exhibit physical changes."

"**I feel the same."** Cyon stated. **"Would you believe it to be in our best opinion to stop her examination now, and prepare her to be sent home?"**

"…That is a tough call." Chiase stated. "There is the possibility that it is a false reaction. However… for it to be of this extent, I severely doubt that." She said. "Let us continue it for her. If she reacts to anything else, and that cancels the current reaction, then she is to not be sent home. However, if her body completely rejects that other cells of blood and continues with that of the nature reaction, then she will have to be sent home the following day."

Cyon agreed with her, and Chiase sighed and yawned as she stood and stretched out a little. Feeling as though she was about to sleep, she wasted no time in taking out supplement tablets that she carried with her, and swallowing them down raw. That ought to keep her going for a few more hours.

"**If you are feeling tired, I would not mind monitoring everything for a few hours while you go rest. There are only nine hours left. If you wish to take that time to sleep, then feel free to do so."**

"As nice as that offer is, I simply cannot leave you here alone to do all that work yourself…" As soon as she finished the sentence, an idea popped into her head. Despite the supplements, she did feel tired. While she was used to staying up for long hours at the day, the fact that she could possibly have some much-needed sleep sounded amazing to her.

"Maybe…" She mumbled to herself as she thought everything over. She _had_ spent a good three days preparing for the visits of the girls, and getting everything in order. Reviewing their health records, re-assessing the first samples that they had ever taken, creating a health plan, all while dealing with her daily schedule and two emergencies that were the result of bad training accidents for the new recruits of the Royal Guards. She hadn't slept in those three days, the reason why she still had so many supplements on her. She knew that it was slightly selfish, but it wasn't as thought this was a life-or-death situation. She would be on-call the whole time, too.

"No, no, I cannot drop my job on someone else — unless it is a perfectly valid reason, of course. However, this is nothing new to me and I am sure that I can handle it." Chiase responded. Despite how much she wanted that luxury, when she chose to be a doctor, she chose to give-up things such as sleep in order to properly serve others. She would not, under any circumstance, _not_ pull her weight, and live-out what her decision had entailed. Besides, why would she force another to do her work? Even though it would be Lia, who somehow took too many breaks as it was, it would still be unfair.

Cyon accepted that as her final answer, and the two continued on with the work. Moments later, Chiase could feel her drowsiness begin to dull as the pills finally began to take effect on her body. Once they were fully activated, while it was no substitute for actual sleep when it came to the natural feeling of being satisfied, she did feel as though she was refreshed.

By that time, the third test was finished, and they were moving onto the fourth.

"**Drain the machines. Begin the fourth examination." **She told the female nurses in the room. They did as such, and the exam continued as it had before.

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><p>Well into Sunday Morning…<p>

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><p>It was 5am, in the last four-hour interval of the examination, where the girls' bodies were finally introduced to the blood of the missing princess — and an hour into this process when red began to flash on the health statuses of one of the girls.<p>

They had suspected such a thing to happen.

After all, from the start they knew that Bunny Sánchez was not well. What they did not expect, however, was for her to begin coughing blood. After the warning was given, the nurse who had been watching over her began to report that the young girl was vomiting blood as though it was second nature to her.

"**Get her out." **Chiase stated; Cyon shutting down the functions of Bunny's machine. "Cyon, I am going to have her moved to one of the rooms on the third floor. I hope you do not mind taking over from here, for a little while. I will send Lia down in a few moments." She said to the woman beside her as she prepared herself to go upstairs.

"**I understand." **Cyon responded.

"Thank you." Chiase said. She then said into the microphone, **"Transfer her upstairs to one of the rooms on the third floor. I will be there to look over her." **With that, she began to exit to the back door of the room.

Since the examination for the others would still go on for another three hours or so, she could not enter the room and retrieve Bunny personally. She would instead have to use the back exit, which provided a connection to a set of stairs and elevators that led to the rest of the basement, as well as to the other floors of The Clinic, and meet-up with the nurse and bloody girl, there.

With her knowledge of the area, as well as her pass which allowed her access to nearly every function available, she was able to make it up to the third floor of The Private Clinic, in a matter of minutes. There, she headed to where she knew that Bunny would be coming from, and a few minutes later, she received the girl on the hovering gurney.

Bunny was still bleeding from her mouth.

There was blood painting her entire chest red, and staining the area around her. Chiase could hear her wheeze as they rushed to the closest, emptiest room, and once they were inside, she wasted no time in changing the color of the gloves that she wore, and beginning to check the girl's vitals.

She wasn't on the brink of death, which was good, but her lungs were strained and her heart was beating far too fast for it to be normal. Her guess was that blood was flooding her lungs. How and why, that she still did not know. But what she knew was that she needed to drain that blood from her lungs as soon as possible, and calm down her heartbeat.

In a situation like this, she would normally have the person tranquilized to calm them down, but since Bunny was already technically out cold, she was left with finding a new way to calm her heart down.

_The only way to do that is to stop her breathing. Without the flow of oxygen, her blood cells cannot give that oxygen to her organs. If this were to happen, her brain would be deprived of oxygen. Ten seconds marks her falling into unconsciousness if she had been fully awake, and twenty seconds marks where her brain would begin to die. To do this, I would have to time it correctly so that she settles down, but then a flow of oxygen is produced, and her body registers it right before it begins to take a serious effect on her… That is too dangerous…_ She thought. Her thoughts were contradictive, however, as she remembered that if this continued on, Bunny could die from a heart attack, or flooded lungs, as well. One way or another, the girl would suffer a terrible death if she didn't think fast on her feet and—

"Cut off her oxygen." She stated.

"What?" The white-clad nurse with her, asked.

"Cut off her oxygen. Do this for _exactly_ ten seconds, and then start it up again. If it's even a second later, she could die from it, and I _will not_ have her dying." Chiase stated with fierce eyes.

While she wanted to ask, the nurse within the white suit followed Chiase's directions. Going to where the flow of air was controlled within the tanks, she shut off the air supply by pressing the red button that, with its green counterpart, was placed on the underside of the gurney, and displayed behind glass. The ten seconds that followed were nerve-wrecking.

Chiase watched Bunny stop breathing, while the nurse counted ten seconds in her head.

"Now!" Chiase exclaimed. The nurse pressed the green button, and oxygen began to flow back into the gas mask. As a safety precaution, Chiase pumped Bunny's chest for a little while, before finally grabbing her stethoscope from her skirt, and checking Bunny's breathing.

It was hoarse and difficult, but the beating of her heart had decreased significantly. Yet blood continued to stream from the girl's mouth, coupled with her saliva.

"There's no time to prep her for surgery. Come, we need to get to an OR as soon as possible, and drain that blood from her lungs." The two nurses burst through the patient doors, and quickly began to head to the second floor of the hospital, which contained all of the major rooms that were used for operations.

They opted to take advantage of the fact that the gurney hovered in the air, and that Bunny was strapped onto it, and used the stairs instead of an elevator to get her down that one flight of stairs. Sure enough, they reached the second floor quickly, and had even come out into an area that had an operation room that was not in use.

_Forget scrubbing down…_ Chiase stated as she quickly secured the room while the nurse began to go to the operating table, and got Bunny ready. _I'll just do it in my uniform. Thankfully, everything's clean and my gloves can change automatically._ She changed her gloves once again, so that they were that surgical green color that would match the clothes that she would normally wear whenever she was in an OR, and wasted no time in fully sedating the young girl, cutting her clothes, sterilizing the area around them, and then finally, picking up a scalpel and begin to perform the surgery.

She was only glad that she had the nurse from the basement section of The Clinic, to help her out.

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><p>Head Nurse Office — 9:13am (four hours later)<p>

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><p>Entering her office, Chiase could not help but let out a tired sigh as she slumped down on her large black chair that stood before her desk. Slighting twisting from side-to-side in the leather material, she tried to collect her thoughts.<p>

Since the moment Bunny had begun to become to spew blood from her mouth much like water came rushing out of a fire hydrant when it was opened by firefighters, she'd done everything in such a blur, that she only thanked her years of experience and mentoring beneath Bunko, for allowing her to think fast on her feet, and not let a situation like that overwhelm her too much.

She had, thankfully, successfully drained Bunny's lungs of blood. The blood had been collected and disposed of routinely, and she had managed to check out why this had happened.

From the way the blood had been flowing, it looked as though her entire blood system had been set in reverse. So instead of her blood moving forward in its usual cycle of collecting oxygen from her lungs and delivering it to the organs in her body, the cells that already had oxygen in them, gained more oxygen, and it took longer for those that needed it, to get it.

This had caused the two parts of her heart to pump faster to help move the cells that needed the oxygen along, as well as risked her getting a massive blood clot. Her hypothesis was that in order to stop the clot from happening, her body forced her to vomit blood. Most likely, they were the cells that had gotten too big for her body's liking. But for them to be rerouted so quickly and forced to leave her body in that way meant that this had not happened before. Yet the girl's medical records, which she had looked over several times, did not mention anything like that…

It was a very unusual thing.

The human body — especially that of an Earthling — _was not supposed to function that way_! One's blood flow was not supposed to reverse, and even if it did, a large clot should have formed that would have killed her, instead of her body pushing the fat and brightly-colored blood cells, out.

Then there was the fact that _if_ this had happened before, why weren't there any written records of it? Why hadn't the doctor that she saw on Earth, who most likely dealt with her if she had experienced that very thing before, properly documented it in case it reoccurred? The doctor was either a very foolish doctor that should not have made such a big mistake like that, or it could've been on purpose.

That, in itself, raised more warning flags.

_I should tell Onagi-no-kimi about this._ Chiase thought as she began to sit-up on her chair and got ready to contact her Princess. _She definitely wants to know about this. While I am certain that Cyon told her that Bunny had begun to vomit blood, I doubt that she has all the details._

Knowing that it was Sunday, and that her Princess would not be tied down by her school classes, she didn't hesitate in establishing a connection to her Princess' communication device, and requesting an audience with her.

Bunko, quick as always, accepted the call a few seconds later.

"**Status update." **Bunko said to her. An image of Bunko's face popped open on her computer screen, while in the bottom right corner, there was a small square with her own face being shown. Taking a moment to register her appearance, she was just glad that her hair was short and low-maintenance — otherwise, she would've greeted her Princess looking very unsightly. That is not something she wanted.

"The surgery on Bunny was a success." She stated. "Her lungs were completely drained of unnecessary fluids such as the blood that had begun to fill it, and her heartbeat, which had gotten very erratic, was slowed down to a more normal rate."

"**Good. Did you learn of the reason why this occurred?" **

"I have a theory." Chiase stated. "While performing the surgery, I managed to deduct that her blood flow was going in reverse. Thus the cells that had already delivered the oxygen that they had stored inside needed to be pushed back to the lungs faster, in order for the cycle to continue. I believe that this is the reason why her heart rate increased. Her heart was trying to pump the blood more quickly. I also suspect that the flooding of her lungs was due to the fact that, with her cells now going in the opposite direction, some may have strayed and flowed to the areas that they ought not to be in. The lungs are a maze."

"I also suspect that the reason why she vomited blood was because the cells that had already gotten oxygen, received even more, growing fatter and causing her blood to pile in one area. For some reason… her body rerouted the blood so that the fattened cells would be outside of the system, and that the flow could continue." She said.

Bunko had surprise and confusion etched on her face.

"**That is not possible." **She stated. **"I have heard of many strange medical cases, but none such as that… In fact, I do not believe that I read of anything such as that in her medical files, raising the possibility that this is the first time that such a thing has happened to her."**

"I thought the same, but with the way that her body went about solving the issue, it felt too… _natural_, to me. This leaves me to believe that this _has_ happened before, but that it was not put into her medical files."

At her words, Bunko frowned.

"**This is a serious issue. Too many questions arise from this to be ignored. What makes it more noticeable is the fact that it occurred when Imouto-chan's blood was being used…" **Bunko said. Chiase nodded, whole-heartedly agreeing with her. For something so odd and extraordinary to happen just as the girl's body finally got exposed to the DNA of the missing princess, could mean many things — all of them pointing to the possibility of this girl being— **"I will have her Scout left on Earth, further investigate the situation." **Bunko stated, cutting off her hopeful thoughts. **"Have her Guardian travel to Earth and help in the search for any produced information relating to this topic that has been buried beneath the ground."**

"With all due respect, I do not believe that Seikatsu-san is the best one to send." Chiase stated. "While I have no doubts in her skills at uncovering necessary information, since this _is_ a medical-related search, I believe that Ikusei-san would be the better choice to have, since she has more experience with finding and decoding medical records."

"**Ayano-kouhai is busy with her candidate, if I am not mistaken." **

"That is what else I must tell you. After seeing how reactive she was to the blood of a Life Elemental, Cyon has decided that it would be best to send Mata back to Earth. I am uncertain of what it is that she saw, but Cyon did briefly tell me that Mata had begun to change physically, in a way that pointed towards her being a creature of the forest. I agree with the situation. I had seen her blood quickly morph and begin to transform into that of the Dryad blood."

"**Very well — have Ayano-kouhai remain on Earth after she takes Mata back to her home, tomorrow. While I would prefer if she left today, I understand that Mata must be very tired, and we cannot have her sent back to Earth with her transformed blood awakened. Have the dispatch team cancel the reaction and return it to its regular dullness, before sending her off." **

"**Since you know the location and name of Bunny's other Scout, give that information to Ayano-kouhai, and debrief her on the situation. Tell her the following: her candidate will be returning to Earth on Monday, and she will also be remaining there for a mission, upon my request." **

"**I have gained permission to return to the castle from 4pm to 6pm, tomorrow afternoon. During that time, I wish to have a conference with you and Cyon on what happened today, instead of a report on it. However, as a safety precaution, type the report and save it with the electronic copy that we have of Bunny's medical records. I would also like to ask you to review it once more — perhaps there is a hint of her condition, there, that we have somehow missed. If that is the case, we must uncover this information and compare it with what we know, and define the similarities and differences."**

"**There are pieces to this puzzle that we have just begun to receive, that need to be recovered **_**immediately**_**. With the limited amount of time that she has on Animetra, we must learn all that we can before the seventh day. Until then, Bunny Sánchez is **_**not**_** at risk of being sent home to Earth, unlike the others. While I do not want to give her any special attention, with this oddity, I have no choice but to put her atop the priority list, when it comes to the candidates."**

"I agree with your decision." Chiase said, seeing how her Princess disliked being forced to focus all of her time and attention on a sole Earthling. Bunko heavily believed in equality. Even when one person was ranks above the other, she would put them on equal standing, and not give one more attention that the other. However, with the blurred fiasco that she vaguely experienced on account of the young Earth girl, a few hours ago, Bunko could simply not ignore that Bunny needed special attention.

If such a thing truly _had_ happened before, then somewhere there were records of it. This information being hidden so expertly only brought more attention to itself, now that they were aware of it.

Bunko gave Chiase a soft smile. **"Thank you. I am glad to have someone of your caliber agree with them." **Releasing a soft sigh, Bunko moved back. It appeared to her that her Princess was seated — most likely, she was in her dormitory at the school, and had been working endlessly at the project, until she had disrupted it with her call.

"I see that you are very busy. I will leave you to your business now, Onagi-no-kimi. I wish you luck on your school assignments."

"**Thank you. I look forward to our meeting tomorrow, Chiase-san. Goodbye."**

"Goodbye."

Chiase disconnected the call, and took a few moments to take everything in. From her view point, it looked as though they had just come across a problem that could decide the fate of the girl's time on Animetra. So far, to her, it looked as though, maybe… possibly… this girl _was_—

She shook her head.

Locking her computer and making it go to sleep, she stood from her desk and began to head out of The Clinic.

She had to inform Mata's Guardian of the developments.

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><p>.<p>

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><p>You know what's good about rewriting a chapter? You can have so many new ideas that are <em>a lot<em> better than what you originally planned. This chapter I rewrote twice, and then had my friend decide which I should use as the chapter update. He's a real sweetie, since it was practically 20k words, total (thankies osito~!). But anyhow, what do you guys think? Things are getting interesting, no? I feel bad for Mata, though — she just got there a day ago and already she's being sent home. Poor thing. But hey! One down, three more to go, and five days left before Friday, when the last girl will either be revealed as the missing princess, or sent home. Still lots ahead!

Next chapter: The Princess Competition — Day Three. With Mata returning home and Bunny hospitalized, the remaining two candidates, Victoria and Chika, get one-on-one training with the Guardian who was with each of them. New characters, revealed!

~Chibi


	12. The Princess Competition — Day Three

I've been waiting for this moment for a while; an introduction to how I've revamped the old characters in the original story. This chapter introduces the Guardians and shows the changes I've made to their original design, and how I've improved on that and made them more… unique and personal. I'm excited to showcase them, especially in future chapters, and hope you enjoy this one!

Disclaimer: I own _everything_!

Enjoy!

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><p>.<p>

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><p>Animetra Princess<p>

_**Chapter 11: The Princess Competition — Day Three**_

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><p>.<p>

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><p>They came in the middle of the night.<p>

She was pulled out of her delightful slumber by an all-too abrupt noise. Always having been the light-sleeper with ears that seemed to keep track of the physical world while her mind swayed into unconsciousness, Victoria was the first to notice the noise and wake-up. She turned in her temporary bed and opened her eyes before lifting her body to properly look for the source of the noise.

They stopped at the door into the room — where two unrecognizable and odd-looking females stood.

The most interesting-looking of them was the female with the green skin, which caught her eyes immediately. Looking much like a stereotypical alien that people were so fond of using back on Earth, she had what looked to be dark-green colored dreads — possible tentacles, if the image persisted — at the top of her head, crowning it like hair, that were pulled back into a slick lump. The whites of her eyes were not white, but a soft yellow color and her eyes were dark green.

Despite her flesh being green, was pretty; with her eyes, button nose and pale-green lips, there was no doubt in her mind that this girl was attractive, for whatever age she may be.

She wore minimal clothing; a loose, gray, short-sleeved t-shirt that lay on her thighs (Victoria couldn't help wondering if she was wearing any underwear beneath), and was barefoot. This showed Victoria her thick legs with toned, strong muscles under her skin, giving her a light image of what the rest of her under the single shirt may look like. She was taller than the girl she stood next to.

Beside her was a girl dressed in all black. She was wearing a long black skirt that had, at minimum, a 5-inch long pool of fabric that was surrounding her feet, which judging by it Victoria presumed were rather dainty. On top of the long skirt was a long-sleeved, turtle-neck black sweater that ended at her thighs, and had an intricate knot design on it that she found was rather beautiful. (If that sweater came in a brighter color, she would love to own it, herself.) She wore black gloves to cover her hands, as well, and in them she held a black umbrella with a silver holder that had filigree on it.

The only part of her body not fully covered in black was her face, which revealed to Victoria her immensely pale skin. Yet the girl was beautiful, with large eyes that were black, and a slightly long nose and thin lips. Cascading down from her head was long black hair that was loose and went down to her waist. And atop this was a wide-brimmed, black hat that provided a shadow on her face.

These two girls entered the room. The green-skinned girl looked at them directly with energy in her eyes, while the black-clad girl did so dully.

"Forgive us for the rude awakening," the black girl said to her in a soft, feminine voice that she was surprised she could hear as clearly as though she were speaking in a more out-loud tone. "But we have come to inform you that your time at the Castle has come to an end."

Victoria raised an eyebrow at her.

"Excuse me?" She asked, confused.

Just as the black-clad girl was surely about to respond, the green-skinned girl had narrowed her eyes at a still-sleeping Chika and began to move towards her bed. Victoria watched as she, rather violently, jumped on the bed and forced Chika to wake-up.

The dazed and confused Japanese girl was letting out brief screams and shouts of surprise, with mixtures of "What's going on?!" and "Ah! Stop it!" before the green-skinned girl deemed her fully awake and stopped jumping on the bed. She allowed it to come to a rest and Chika to gain her composure, before the girl looked up at the one who had woke her up so suddenly, and flushed as she saw more of the girl than she wanted.

"Eeeeekkkk!" Chika screamed. "_She has no underwear on_!" She closed her eyes tightly and turned around in the bed to bury her head in the pillow.

In response, and obviously not fazed by Chika's declaration (although Victoria found herself stunned to death by this), the green-skinned girl began to pull at the young girl again and in a thick accent that sounded Russian to the earthlings' ears, said, "Vhy ju no vake up?! Huh?!" Again in an aggressive nature she tried to get Chika to sit up on the bed and pay attention, even though Chika refused to do so after what she had seen.

Born with a temper far too short for her or anyone's liking, the girl decided to take more abrasive actions. The dread-like, green things that made her hair began to grow and swiftly wrapped themselves around the young girl. Healthy and strong, they lifted Chika into the air as though she were weightless — shocking both candidates as they witnessed the spectacle.

"Oh my—!" Chika was unable to believe what was going on. She had never been lifted into the air before, and especially not by — now that she was able to frantically look at them closely and see the flowers and leaves that grew from them — vines.

"Ju no lis'en? Den I vill make ju lis'en." She hopped off of the bed, causing a small shriek to escape Chika's lips as the vines bounced slightly with this movement, and headed to where her black-clad companion stood. She then ungracefully and without any tenderness dropped Chika on the ground, who could only stare up at her from where she lay. Fully taking in the two uniquely-looking females, her eyes were focused on the live vines as they shrunk back to the size where they went down to her hips, and became immobile once again.

Chika couldn't help but ask, "Are those things real?!"

"Vhy of course." The girl said, with an expression on her face that told of her wondering why anyone would ever ask her if the vines growing out of her head were real. Did they _look_ fake? "Like ju and me, dey live and bree'th. I feed dem ev'ry day." She said.

"Wow…" Chika responded. Even Victoria was taken aback by this. It only made the question of just _who_ — or _what_ — these females were, grow even larger.

"Hm… now that that manner is solved, I do believe that in the favor of formality, introductions are in order." The black-clad female said. "My name is Shi Tamiko, and this is Moriko—" she gestured to her companion, "—we are the Guardians under the direct order and visage of Princess Onagi Yayuki Hastelyion, Second Princess to Animetra."

"Guardians…" Victoria repeated. "If… If I am remembering this all correctly for the past few days, you were the ones who brought us here, no? Miss Cyon called for you on our first day here, but…" Her voice trailed off. She looked at them intently. They looked _nothing_ like the human girls who had brought them there. The one who had been with her had surely been human and looked… normal. These girls looked anything _but_ normal.

"Yes, they were — there are many types of Guardians and you can say that those girls were… _special_." Tamiko said. "Now, on to the day's events—"

"Get up and pack." Moriko said a beat too early, cutting Tamiko off. "No more liv'ing here for ju."

"What?" Chika asked.

"What she means is, as is the routine, after the first member of the group has been sent home, the remaining girls are taken out of the castle for more testing. I apologize for the last-minute notice, but you need to pack your things and be ready to leave the castle in, at minimum, a half-hour. We are in a rush." Tamiko said to the two girls, catching them by surprise.

But they had little time to bask in it as Moriko immediately began to rush them. She was a very assertive person, and would have packed all of their things, herself, were it not for Tamiko holding her back with her words, and the two candidates doing the jobs as quickly as they could.

Victoria was very irritated by this. She wanted to at least bathe and change into more proper clothing before she went anywhere. Walking around din her pajamas was not something she had ever wanted to do…

She wanted to make her protests vocal, but kept her mouth silent. Parallel to her feelings, Chika was excited by all that was going on. She kept glancing at the two girls — wondering what _else_ they could do. If Moriko had those live vines as her hair that could grow and grasp onto things as heavy as she was and lift them with ease, there was surely more that she could do. Maybe she could talk to plants? What if she was some type of fairy or forest nymph? Oh how she wanted to _learn_ what species of creature the green-skinned girl belonged to.

And Tamiko was shrouded in a whole other level of mystery. Having only shown that she was more level-headed than her companion, Chika knew little of her. Yet judging by her clothing and pale skin, she had some hypotheses. A vampire — some type of cave-dwelling creature that hated the sun and constantly stayed out of it. Could she transform into a bat or pile of rats? What about mist like all those urban legends said would appear before the vampire did?

_If only I could clearly see her eyes…_ Chika thought as she began to pack away the things that were given to her by the Animetran staff taking care of them, and put them in her suitcase. _If they're red, I would be able to tell if she was a vampire or not…_ She wished Tamiko's hat would tilt back a bit and allow some level of light to her face so that she could decipher the orbs better; all she knew was that they were dark, and that may only be because of the shadow created by her hat.

Keeping herself busy with musings of the species of the visitors, Chika followed their every word without any sounds of protest. She and Victoria were led through the castle that was still in the settling mood of early twilight, and soon founds themselves in the large foyer at the castle's main entrance. They hadn't gone through it when they first arrived, so seeing the space — with large staircases and columns, and chandeliers hanging down from a high-vaulted ceiling that were surely bigger than their bodies — was astonishing.

"This place is amazing…" Chika couldn't help but let slip through her mouth. Her eyes stayed focused on the ceiling, where a very highly-detailed mural of a snowy wonderland was painted with creatures present in it that she had never seen before. She briefly wondered — hoped — if they were real.

"Yes, the North Castle is quite beautiful, but so are the other hemispheric castles as well. Although you can say that the North receives the most attention." Tamiko explained. She, having seen these things over a thousand times in her past few years, was no longer struck by awe with it, but could never deny how beautiful it was. She had come to appreciate the beauty and found solace in it — as had her fellow Guardians.

"Hm… does each planet have four castles on it?" Victoria asked as they continued to head to the large, arched doorways of the main entrance. Everything on it was impeccably done, and she could not help but feel the urge to _live_ here and call these things her own. After all, she felt quite comfortable in this atmosphere as her house was a masterpiece, itself.

"Yes. It would be nearly impossible for the Royal Family to rule all of it if they were not established in each of its hemispheres." Tamiko responded.

They reached the doors, which opened soundlessly on their own when they were nearby. The two candidates had thought it to be some sort of magic or automatic response, but soon found that it was due to people, guards, on the other side that had been waiting for them. The silver-clad men and women were mostly centered about a pair of carriages, each unique in their frame and design, that was being pulled by four dark brown Clydesdale horses. The guards had horses of their own, pure-bred horses that looked as though they were ready to ride into battle at any moment.

"This is where you separate." Tamiko said. "Miss Wilson, you will be coming with me, while Moriko will _properly_ take Sato-san with her."

"Where are we going?" Victoria asked, eyeing the guards and the horses and the carriages under the night sky. With it not even morning yet, and the way they were leaving, it seemed as though they were being snuck out of the castle for some unknown reason. It was odd.

"You will know when you get there." Tamiko responded, before starting to head to the carriage on the left. Despite there being no light outside, she opened her umbrella as though it were raining or there was too much sunshine hitting her. "Come." She said, Victoria knowing that it was meant for her. She hesitantly followed the young girl, and her luggage was taken by one of the guards who began to place it in the back storage area of the remodeled carriage.

She was then helped into the carriage, and couldn't help the feel of being a princess or a person of wealth in Victorian times, as she sat down on the plush seats and looked at the interior decorations. Lit lanterns instead of light-bulbs, trimmed wallpaper on the side, and not to mention the beautiful curtains that covered the windows, helped to amplify that feeling.

Chika felt the same, feeling as though she had been transported back in time and was the wealthy daughter of a Duke and Duchess who was being taken for a midnight ride in her lands. Her excitement did not cease, not even when her escort entered and plopped down on the seat across from her with a lazy heaviness in her movements.

She wanted to engage in some sort of conversation with her, her mind eager to know just what species this girl belonged to, but found her escort moving into a horizontal sleeping position, that involved pulling out a pillow from beneath the seat and resting her head against it.

"Do not bother me." Moriko said to her as she began to close her eyes. "The ride is long and tiring, and I am sleepy. So shut up." She said finally, before closing her eyes for good and lulling herself into a dream world.

Chika was a tad disheartened by this, but was suddenly reminded of her lack of sleep, and obliged. When they were informed by the guards outside that they were ready to move, she decided on doing the same thing as her escort and nestled herself into the side of the seat, before placing her head against the wood of the wall and falling asleep.

* * *

><p>Morning — The Private Clinic<p>

* * *

><p>"How is she?" Chiase asked.<p>

Looking much more refreshed than she had in the last couple days, Chiase entered a bedroom in The Private Clinic which, unlike the other bedrooms present on that floor, was being guarded by two blue-clad members of the hospital security. While these members regularly patrolled the halls and made sure that the atmosphere was as peaceful as it could get, removing unwanted visitors or helping to secure patients that managed to slip through the skilled fingers of the medical staff, they would not stand outside of a room, unless the person within was a member of the Royal Family, or an important associate of theirs.

While Bunny was not, in any way, important to the political structure of Animetra, or held a high amount of a combination of wealth and knowledge that would consider her a valuable resource, she was, however, a _possible_ member of the Royal Family. Even though the odds of her being the missing princess were not great enough to have them fully convinced that she truly was the youngest Onagi, the percentage that she could secretly be the much-wanted female had increased because of two factors:

A) One of the candidates, Fatoumata Anikulapo-Kuti, had been declared to be the offspring of a creature that is not characteristic of the Royal Family, and is therefore marked as a lost cause and has been scheduled to leave Animetra, and return to Earth, that early Monday morning (she has already departed, actually).

And,

B) Discovered on the early morning of Sunday, Bunny Sánchez has a peculiar condition that an Earth human, or any creature for that matter, should not have. Her blood flow reverses — an oddity that just so happened to occur after she was exposed to the blood of Animetra's youngest princess. The coincidence was far too great to be ignored. Upon further inspection, there appear to be no records of this special condition of hers, and that has raised alarms in the minds of those who know of it, that were too loud to ignore.

It was for these reasons that she has been put on maximum security. Chiase had to present her identification to the guards, and be checked for any harmful weapons on her person, before she was allowed entrance into the room, despite the two guards knowing of her very well.

No chances were to be taken on this girl. With Bunko having declared her to be immune of being sent home to Earth, giving her the special attention that the First Princess avoided to ever give with all her might, she had silently declared that this girl was to be dealt with as though she were an ancient artifact, one-of-a-kind, that a museum that is honored to, puts on display, with the upmost care and attention.

Entering the room, she did not hesitate to ask the on-site nurse that had not been allowed to leave the room for the past twenty-four hours, how the unconscious Earthling was doing.

The nurse, who was identified as an automaton with the pale-blue coloring of her uniform, had voluminous reddish brown hair that was very wavy, and even covered both her eyes. She had unseen blue eyes and freckles on her skin, and from what Chiase remembered of her, she was extremely critical. With her eyesight, she had been the perfect inside guard dog for Bunny.

"**Good morning, Dr. Chiase. My overnight observations of the patient included: moments of increased heart rate that would last no longer than five minutes. This would occur several times, with the interval between each occurrence decreasing — the elapsed time of the increased heart rate was in proportion to the intervals, and thus decreased as well until the patient no longer experienced them. The body scans that I performed on an hourly basis showed no increased fluid in the lungs. In my opinion, she has reached a state of stability. Besides her health, there were no other disturbances in the night besides the minor, common stir." **

"That is very good to hear, Suzu." Chiase stated as she went to the side of Bunny's bed, and looked down to examine the fragile body, herself.

From when she last saw her near the afternoon of Sunday, she looked better than before. Her trained eyes told her that despite Bunny still having pale skin that was not as healthily flushed as it had been when she first laid eyes on her, telling her that she had lost quite a significant amount of blood from yesterday's incident (something that she was well-aware of and had her treatment begin to fix), her breathing had bettered to the point where it was soft and no longer strangled, and her calm expression showed that she was no longer bothered by her injuries.

Chiase could not help the soft smile on her lips, as she changed the color of the gloves she wore, and began to perform the physical inspection. She started by grabbing her stethoscope, and listening to Bunny's heart and lungs.

"Her heart is normal, and there is no longer any fluid in her lungs, as you said. I trust that the antibiotics that you have been giving her have managed to clear the unknown blood clots." She said to Suzu as she continued to listen in on what was happening inside of the girl.

"**Yes. A closer look using an x-ray shows her blood functioning as it should. The flow has been reversed to how it originally was, and there are no more clots." **

"That is very good to hear." Putting the stethoscope away, she moved aside the blanket that had covered the sleeping body. To prevent any harm from being dealt to her accidentally from an attempt at trying to change her clothes, Bunny remained in the blood-stained clothing that she had chosen to wear two days prior.

Luckily, it was a simple outfit of jeans and a t-shirt, and the shirt's material was more-than-easy to slice through for the surgery. This had also involved the removal of the bra that she wore, but since no one who would dare molest her, or any other, was allowed to work in The Clinic or see her, her bare breasts were not even paid attention to. (Her nudity was another reason why a female nurse was guarding her and not one of the male nurses — they felt Bunny would be more comfortable with a female.)

Chiase set her eyes on the scars left on Bunny's body, due to what could be considered two separate, back-to-back surgeries.

Her eyebrows furrowed.

"She heals quickly…" She mumbled lightly. Chiase ran her fingers across the stitches that she had hastily and precisely used to mend the flesh closed. She had estimated that it'd be a good five or so days before the scars started to go away, thanks to the boost of the healing ointment that was put over all of the wounds of the patients in The Clinic, but now she knew that she had been way off.

What had been streaks of flared, red skin were now light brown scars on pale skin. The stitches, she deduced, could be removed right then and there.

_An abnormal healing rate,_ she thought as she began to do just that, her free hand automatically going into one of the pockets on her skirt flap and grabbing the small, silver scissors that she would use to remove stitches. _This has to be the cause of her transformed blood. There is no other explanation as to why she would heal so quickly. _

_Even so, _she told herself as she cut the stitches and took the extremely skinny string out by plucking it with her thumb and forefinger, one loop at a time. _This is too quick. Is it because her system is very vulnerable to the foreign medicine of Animetra? Or is it because her true species heals quickly? If it is left behind because of a surgery, Onagi no Kimi would be fully healed in a minimum of four days — scars and all. _Her eyes once again landed on the light brown streak still imprinted on the girl's body, visible proof that she had undergone some sort of procedure that involved her skin slicing apart enough to create a hole into her body, there. _It has only been around a day, yet all that is left is the scar. Thus, if it is gone by the time she leaves, then that is a similarity between her and Onagi no Kimi. Although, judging by how quickly it has healed, the scar could be gone by tomorrow…_

With the stitches removed and still much to inspect, Chiase placed the materials away, and moved on to inspect a new area of her body after taking a quick snapshot of it with the technology found in her bracers.

She did the routine for body checkups such as checking the limbs and how her muscles reacted to a pinch here and there, and making sure that her body temperature was what it should be, before covering her up once again and deciding that, overall, Bunny was doing better.

If she kept healing at the rate that she is, and awakened soon, she could be put in therapy and rejoin the others. However, by then, it would more-or-less be her final day on Animetra.

By that time, they had to get as much out of her as they were capable of. They had to uncover the mysteries surrounding this young girl and find the answer to their greatest question: _Is she or is she __not__ the missing princess_?

However, all of their effort could not be put on this single candidate. While she was at the top of the priority list as of yesterday, there were two remaining candidates that had been deemed _special_ enough to remain on Animetra, and needed attention, as well.

Both Victoria Mildew Wilson and Sato Chika had showed that their transformed blood held properties that were similar to the true nature of the blood of the Royal Family, but unlike their fellow candidate who has been sent home, they were not very reactive to any type of blood, and were still question marks in the eyes of them all.

Today, they would start special testing with two Guardians, the ones who had accompanied them there. The Guardians would help to bring out that unknown side of them.

The girls had been transported out of the castle earlier that day, and were surely either half-way to the new location where they would stay at for their last days on Animetra, or already there. She had forgotten specifically where these places were, as she was just briefly told of it because her personal involvement with them was over, not that it mattered much, though.

Now their health would be monitored by the Guardians, who had the abilities to handle minor wounds. Major wounds, which would surely not befall the young girls, would be dealt with by an experienced doctor that would arrive at the scene via teleportation; of course, of these two doctors, neither would be her — especially not with Bunny being in her care and she having to be involved in unraveling her medical history.

She finished taking a few images, and noted what it was that she had seen, before telling Suzu to continue doing the good job that she was already performing and leaving the room altogether.

She was surprised to find that outside the door was the young Guardian who had been placed in charge of Bunny.

A short, blonde-haired girl, she stood at four-foot-eight with the pride and confidence of someone who was three feet taller. She was a very pretty young girl, with large amethyst-colored eyes and a button nose and pink lips. Her hair consisted of short honey-blonde curls that were tight against her head and did not go past the nape of her neck, and from the side of her head poked a set of ears that were long and pointed — much like a common elf.

Today she chose to wear a headband made of long, thin fabric with an abstract flower pattern on it, to push back her curls and move them away from her forehead. She had it tied on the side, with the rest of the fabric falling against her shoulder. She wore a sleeveless pink dress that went down to a few inches above her knees, with thin brown straps made of different material than the dress, to hold it up. To finish it off, she wore strapped, low-heel brown sandals, and had a bag slung across her torso that had sheared fabric hanging off the side of it, and earrings consisting of three orbs hanging from her earlobes. Truly out of all the Second Princess' Guardians, she was the one that paid the most detail to her outer appearance.

"Good morning Kankoshi-san." The young girl, Seikatsu Katsue, said as she made eye-contact with the Head Nurse. She presented her with a brilliant, white, bright smile — one the elder female, who had associated herself with her many times before, found to be extremely suspicious.

"Hm… Good morning, Seikatsu-san." Chiase said with a very apparent hesitance in her voice. One that made the young girl's elf-like ears twitch as she picked them up.

"Haha! No need to be so cold with me, Doctor." Katsue said as she fell into step with the woman. "I only came to ask how Bunny was doing — after all, as the Guardian who brought her here making up half of her Scouting team, it's important that I stay updated on her condition." She said matter-of-factly. Then the bright smile waned as she took on a more serious look in her face. "How is she? What even happened? All I heard was that there was some sort of emergency and—"

"That information is classified, by orders of Onagi no Kimi, Seikatsu-san."

"That's a lie. Ano-chi knows about it." She shot back, making reference to the last of the four Guardians, and the only one to have her candidate sent back to Earth. She had briefly conversed with her companion before she left, and gotten some hints on what was going on; a medical situation that needed to be looked into more, causing her to have an extended stay on the foreign planet. After she heard that, it wasn't hard to connect it with whatever it was that happened to Bunny, and for her to understand that something very serious was going on with her Princess Candidate that she had a _right_ to know about.

"Ikusei-san is an entirely different matter. You and she are very different, and her skills are needed."

"So what you're saying is that I'm useless."

"Not entirely, but…" Chiase's words softly ended, leaving the opportunity for pretty much everything to be left to fill in the pause that came after. Katsue frowned at this; was she being belittled?

"Hmph." She said, as they were nearing the Head Nurse's office. "Whatever. I really don't care whether my abilities are needed or not here — but I _do_ care about my candidate. Come on Doctor, can't you just tell me a _little_ about what happened to Bunny? Please? I really care about this girl."

"…You think she's the Second Princess." Chiase said, catching Katsue completely off-guard. Her bright amethyst eyes widened for a moment at this, before they settled and a small smile came across her face.

"You didn't see them; her drawings. They're too… _identical_ to our lives and our culture for it to be a coincidence." Katsue knew that when she first told the First Princess, Bunko, and the others that she thought Bunny was the missing princess, they had thought her to be crazy. They hoped that one of the candidates was, but after the little stunt that Bunny pulled with her extreme denial that led to the other Scout forced to make a wage with her to get her to comply, they all had little hope that this girl was it.

But she could bet her _life_ that Bunny was the Second Princess — she was that confident.

"Have you considered her being a type of prophet? Some prophetic creatures _do_ have the capabilities of seeing things far, far away — whether this is covered by space or time. She could just be a descendant of Earth's Seer race that fizzled out along with the rest of its nonhuman residents, centuries ago. Her powers could just be starting to show in small ways, as it's possible that her family was of a high rank and—"

"I know, I know, Ano-chi gave me this rant as well. Honestly, you would think you two were mother and daughter or something…" Katsue mumbled. "So I did consider it, but that didn't make much sense. Even if she was of the Seer clan, I did a bit more… uncovering, and found more drawings that were far too personal to be achieved by a Seer. You know psychics and fortune tellers and all others that have that _sixth sense_, they only see generic things, nothing specific." And because she knew that Chiase would try to use it as a counterexample, she added on, "Onagi no Kimi is an entirely different matter."

"Hm…" Chiase could only sigh as she reached her office. There, she had hoped that Katsue would leave her be, but the girl had no desire of doing that and entered her office along with her, and even followed her to her desk where she stood at its side while Chiase began to go into her computer files and upload what she had recorded from her checkup on Bunny.

"Please leave." She said.

"Not until you tell me what's going on with Bunny. I have a right to know — she's _my_ Princess Candidate."

"Correction: she is one of the few young Earth girls that fit the desired age that Onagi-hime would have at this point in time, and has the overwhelming presence of inhuman blood in her body that we were able to pick-up on and deem worth looking into. _You_ were just sent to go fetch her and bring her here, thus she wasn't hand-picked by you and isn't _your_ candidate."

Katsue pouted. She really disliked how Chiase got when she wasn't needed to perform her duties as a nurse, or in the presence of other people. She got very cold and analytical — the complete opposite of her sister, who stayed the warm and fresh personality whether she was in public or private.

_I wish she was the one to run The Private Clinic, although running The Public Clinic really does require more people skills. Hmph. She would totally fail at that, wouldn't she? _Katsue thought.

"Stop insulting me in your mind Seikatsu-san; I can see right through you." Chiase said, showing once again just how analytical she was when she didn't need to be around others that couldn't handle it or she wasn't comfortable with. Katsue tried to defend herself, but no words came out of her mouth — just odd sounds that were useless. Eventually she gave up, settling for a sigh.

"Can't I just know a teensy eensy—"

"No. End of discussion. Now please leave my office, as I have many things to do today." Without sparing her a glance, Chiase got to her work. Now that her iron wall of defense was up, which Katsue knew was absolute, she gave-up on getting her answers from _her_ and decide to oblige and leave the office.

The sound of the wooden door closing behind her was music to Chiase's ears.

* * *

><p>"You wanted to have a word with me." Chiase said.<p>

She looked at the hologram before her, where an image of a young girl was being displayed. The only visible things were her upper body's face and part of her shoulders; her skin tone was light, and had on her face was a pair of dark blue eyes that were near-close to a tinted shade of black, with a set of rimless glasses covering them. She also had a slightly long nose and soft, thin pink lips.

Her hair was the most captivating thing about her, physically. It was a shade of blue, with heavy waves for its texture, and was currently pulled back into a low ponytail, with some pieces falling alongside her face. While it could not be seen, Chiase knew that its cornflower-blue color morphed into Persian-green near her edges. Resting on her shoulders was her infamous white lab-coat, which she almost always wore, and a necklace with a large jewel hung around her neck.

The young girl was Ikusei Ayano, the forth of the Guardians that belonged to the Second Princess, and the one whom Katsue had referenced earlier in knowing what was going on with Bunny. The candidate that she was in charge of bringing had been Mata, and as a long-range teleportation path had been used to get her to Earth immediately thanks to the help of the other Scouts that had been left behind, she had managed to get her back to her planet quickly and was given many hours between then and now to conduct some research on Bunny's "condition".

"**Yes, mentor. I have discovered something very interesting." **Ayano said to her.

"What is it?"

"**You mentioned that Miss Sánchez's chip had been removed. Having been the one to place it inside of her, I can affirm that it did not fall out or anything of that sort; it had been securely in place. The only way to get it out would have been through surgical means, from someone **_**aware**_** of its existence and technology." **

"I know. Where is this leading?" Chiase asked.

As a response, on the second hologram that had been opened, Chiase found herself staring at a newspaper from Earth. While she was not well-versed in the languages spoken on Earth (why would she when her planet had so little contact with them?), Ayano had, and easily translated it for her.

"**It reads: 'Explosion at Hospital. Sources say it was a bomb.' This is the hospital in Miss Sánchez's neighborhood, where her mother is employed. It occurred about a day after I implanted the chip in Miss Sánchez…"**

Chiase's eyes widened, before narrowing.

"It was discovered that quickly?" She asked. It was clear from Ayano's recap and the information that she was showing her that she was hypothesizing that the reason Bunny's chip was missing when she arrived on Animetra was because _it had been removed back on Earth_. It all suddenly started to make perfect sense. After all, if an amateur tried to remove the chip, they ran the risk of causing it to combust. She doubted those on Earth knew anything about the technology used to create it. It made sense that if an Earth doctor tried to remove it, with their tools, it could have led to that explosion.

She sighed.

"How could it have been discovered so quickly? How did the Earthlings notice? How did they know where it was, and what it was that they needed to remove?" The list of questions went on, and just made her more unnerved.

"**That I am still investigating. However, I do have some thoughts on this." **Chiase put her full attention back on Ayano; something told her she was not about to like what she was going to hear, as she was on the verge of thinking the same thing. **"There are people on Earth who have some sort of connection to our technology. Whether it is a spy, someone from Animetra, or people not wanting us to discover 'something', I am not certain. However, I do know that no normal Earthling should have known about the chip — let alone try to remove it. It means they were aware of what it was and **_**needed**_** to get rid of it immediately."**

Chiase agreed automatically; she had been thinking the same thing. "So there _was_ more to this than there seemed…" She said, rather tiredly. "Honestly, I was hoping that there wasn't. We really don't have the time to plunge into this mystery with all we have to handle regarding Onagi-hime."

"…**Unless, this **_**does**_** lead us to the discovery of who she is, or where she is." **Ayano said, saying something that was really on the edge of being a one-in-a-million shot. **"If she **_**has**_** been hidden on Earth, then learning that there are non-Earthling humans living on this planet could be the first step to unraveling this mystery that has eluded us for years."**

Chiase began to tap her nails against her wooden desk. "If that is the case, given the person whom this surrounds, her possibilities of being Onagi-hime, or being connected to her in some way, just increased." She couldn't help being reminded of how Katsue had so boldly and confidently proclaimed that Bunny was their Second Princess, and how she had thought her dumb and somewhat shunned her for it, especially after having met the girl personally.

The contrast was too much for her to be the Second Princess. _However_, there is the chance that she was a victim like their Second Princess was — that she was kidnapped from her home-planet as well and possibly taken to Earth to be hidden. If that was the case, they could use her to gain more information on the organization that kidnapped her, and eventually find their missing princess.

"I assume you will be present via hologram at the meeting I am having with Onagi no Kimi today, Ikusei-san."

"**Yes, mentor." **

"We will look further into this, then. Good work."

* * *

><p>Hours Later — With Chika<p>

* * *

><p>She was cold, dreadfully cold. She was certain that being in her pajamas only made it worse as her body continued to rattle and shake as it tried its best to trap as much heat as it possibly could, to keep her warm. She hugged herself tightly and failed at warming up her hands with her warm breath, which was visible in the low temperature. A part of her wondered if she would get frostbite, or worse.<p>

It had been hours since they had departed the castle, and she had only been forced to wake-up from her comfortable sleep due to the fact that the cold was nipping away at her skin like mad. In her unconscious state it was easier to deal with the cold, as her senses were dulled, but once she was fully awake, it was like she was standing naked in a pile of ice.

—Which was not far off from what her escort was doing.

Moriko had still not changed her clothing to anything heavier, and remained in the thin, large shirt that she had been wearing since earlier that day; and while one would think that she was more heavily affected by the cold than Chika was, they were dead wrong, as Moriko had wrapped herself in a blanket that Chika could feel gave-off artificial heat, and continued to soundly sleep.

She wondered where _her_ blanket was.

Why wasn't she offered one? After all, as a girl with the potential to be their missing princess, you would think it would be top priority to keep her from freezing to death — but no. She had called for one several times and was handed nothing; Moriko had even lulled out of sleep for a few seconds to insult her and tell her to be quiet, before falling back into her warm slumber.

Was this how they treated their princess? Did they not care for her? Chika understood that there was a low chance that she was her, but what if she really _was_ the missing girl? What then?

_I-I'll… e-x-x-x-xcile them all!_ Even her thoughts were stuttered as she angrily thought of what she would do to these people if it was determined that she was missing girl. That is, if the princess had the power to exile someone, which she was certain she did.

She continued to suffer in the cold when the carriage came to a stop. With the motion leaving, the cold hit her even harder; the brief warmth the candles lit inside the carriage provided was snuffed out as the flames were forced to disappear with a chilling breeze that randomly emerged. She groaned.

She hated this.

"Mu-a~h!" Moriko yawned as she twisted over in her seat and began to wakeup. "Are ve der?" As though they knew what she was asking softly, the guards outside informed her that they had reached their destination. Moriko began to sit-up, still keeping the blanket wrapped securely around her. "Gud." She said, before turning to a shaking Chika. "Come. Let us start dis all'redy." She knocked on the wood to signal to the guards that they were ready to exit, and within moments the door was opened and a cool blast of air had Chika wishing that she was a beast made of enough fur to keep herself warm.

As Moriko began to step out of the carriage, Chika found herself waiting, and highly disappointed, when nothing was offered for her to keep warm when it was her turn to exit the carriage. Nothing protected her from the freezing cold.

Were these people really okay with mistreating her like this? She was in her pajamas, barefoot, and in a land covered in nothing but snow and—

Her thoughts paused when her eyes landed on the wooden villa before her. It wasn't as big or tall as the castle, but it _looked_ warm with the lights that were turned on and the smoking chimney, and as it was clear that this was where they would be staying with the remaining guards headed in its direction, she was more than ready to run in and warm up.

However, she was being led _away_ from the villa.

"H-h-h-h-hold on!" Chika shouted towards Moriko as she rushed to catch-up to the girl who was leading the way with a guard at her side. "W-w-w-where are w-w-we g-g-g-going? The h-h-house is t-th-th-that way!" She pointed at the toasty looking piece of architecture, which was calling out to her like a siren's sweet song.

"Listen ju, the Second Princess has a high tol'rance for cold. She can stand in wether like this _naked_ and think it varm."

Chika's eyes widened at this. That was _absurd_. Who could do that?! And as she thought of it more, she came to the conclusion that _this_ was why they weren't offering her anything warm. If she truly was the princess, then this should be nothing for her. She shouldn't be shaking and hating it, she should be running through this snow-covered land like it was a field of flowers and singing and dancing like it was a warm, sunny day.

"I am no fan of cold, but, am villing to come here if it means I can see if ju are the princess or not." Moriko said. "My plants hate de cold as vell, so be happy that ve are making dis sacrifice." Chika bit her bottom lip at this; being wrapped in that artificially warm blanket that melted some of the ice it touched, from head-to-toe, it didn't look to her as though Moriko was making any sacrifices.

They continued to walk into the forest and only stopped when they came to a cave tucked into the mountainside. Peaking in from what little sunlight shone into it, Chika saw that the path down was on a slant.

She was about to ask what they were doing there, when without warning, Chika was thrown in and rolled down the path into the darkness. When she finally came to stop against a rock wall, her body covered in snow and what were surely some minor cuts and bruising, she coughed a few times, gasping for breath, before looking up at Moriko — whose hair-vines were extended and still in the area that she had been standing some moments ago. She had pushed her in.

"W-w-w-what's—"

"Ve vill not let you die. As soon as jur state becomes bad, ju ve vill come to get ju. 'Til that time, do jur best and stay living. Ju have de blood of a cold beast — dis should fully avaken jur blood."

As she began to turn away, Chika's eyes widened in shock as she saw the full reality of her situation. They were going to leave her there. She was going to be left in a cold, dark cave with her only hope of escaping her being close to death and _forcing _them to come get her. And the reason for this? Apparently her having the blood of a creature used to the cold.

With adrenaline pumping, she tried to climb back up the path and get out. She wanted to scream at them that she wasn't the princess, if it meant that they would stop doing these things to her. If she would end-up going somewhere with some much-needed heat, she didn't care if she _was_ this girl or not — she just didn't want to be stuck there!

Seeing her intentions clearly, Moriko put a stop to it; before Chika knew it, a cage-wall of thick roots had sprouted from the ground and covered the cave's entrance, vertically and horizontally, allowing the sun to shine through in small squares that would surely not even allow her head through. Finally getting up the path, Chika felt their hard texture beneath her hands and grew more panicked; especially since Moriko and the two guards that had been with them had started walking away from the cave the moment Moriko had set-up the barrier to fully cage her in.

"W-wait! Please!" Chika called out, feeling the tears start to sting her eyes; the cold making it worse. "Please c-c-come back! _Don't leave me here_!"

But they did not turn back around, and were out of her sights some time later.

Her bottom lip shaking, Chika thought, _No… way…_

* * *

><p>With Victoria<p>

* * *

><p>It had been amazing to her just how quickly the landscape had changed. She had remained awake the entire ride, out of a sense of alertness that had grown in her when she heard the news that she was being moved, and watched as they crossed the large bridge over the cavern that created a deep, deep moat for the castle, and went past rolling hills until they eventually arrived at a forest where the leaves on the trees were barely hanging as the cold pre-winter air began to make them shed.<p>

She caught glimpses of the creatures that lived in the forest; basic animals that would be found on Earth. As they kept moving into it, it grew denser and denser with trees, until she could barely see any light. Her sense of alertness grew even more as she looked at these darker-colored trees that were completely bare. She could sense something was going on…

"Where are we?" She finally asked her escort.

Tamiko responded with a casual, "A forest miles away from the Castle. It is where you will hopefully be able to unleash more of your nonhuman blood." _Well of course_, Victoria could not help but think as she heard Tamiko's response. _I knew that, but I want to know __more__ than that._

She was pondering how she should go about her next question. Even though she was… light-years away from her family, she was still a proud Wilson and thus had an image to uphold. She would not dare to start coming off as rude and nosy, because that would just make her family look like it had raised a bunch of animals.

"Would you mind if I asked how it is that my inhuman blood will be tapped into?" She asked. "I read the brief summary of the procedures given in the guidebook that was handed to us, and the information there was very… vague and general."

"Hm, you are more thorough than the previous Princess Candidates; none of them really took the time to read it all." Tamiko observed.

"My family has taught me to always read what is handed to me. My father is a politician with a lawyer for a wife, and has said that one of the reasons he is so successful in his campaigns is because he always reads the plans of others and has my mother search and verify loopholes and fallacies that can be in his favor. He's instructed me to do the same, as it will make things much easier." She said. To this, Tamiko nodded. This girl was sharp, and would surely not let the wool be pulled over her eyes. She had to go about this carefully.

"The information provided is vague because the steps taken to awaken the blood differ on a case-by-case basis. Sometimes, depending on the creature, they can be left alone after the DNA in their blood is fully decoded, and that is enough to make them take on their true forms. Other times, we must go through very complicated and careful procedures that are immensely time-consuming — part of the reason why we are behind in our search for our Second Princess, and Onagi no Kimi has lowered the time limit to a week. Of course, we only work with creatures that hold similarities to the inhuman blood found in the Royal Family."

"I see. To do this I presume that you have some idea on what creature I actually am, no?" Tamiko nodded. "May I ask what it is? Or, at minimum, may I know how you plan to bring it out?"

"I can tell you the bare minimum. We are in this location because we assume you are a creature that usually resides in the forest. As thus, being in this environment will help you awaken it — especially since this forest is well known for bringing out the animalistic side in those who are part animal."

_Animal… I'm some sort of animal…_ Victoria hated the irony of that. She always worked hard not to be seen as an animal and bring shame to her family, yet it seemed as though she _was_ an animal, in essence and blood, and simply pretending to be human. It annoyed her to no end, but she did not show this.

"I see…" Victoria said. Following the long silence that came to her words, was the sound of the carriage stopping.

"We are here." Tamiko said, as she began to move towards the door. It opened some time later, and before she stepped out, she opened her umbrella once again, even though the darkness of the forest kept little light from peeking through. Victoria was then helped out of the carriage by one of the guards, and found that the forest… wasn't cold.

She had felt bits and pieces of the cold air within the carriage, yet when she fully stepped out, she felt nothing but a comfortable warmth. Not to mention, there were no light sources, yet it was lit comfortably.

Once her feet were on the ground, she looked around and saw nothing but trees, and a stony path. As she quickly assumed, Tamiko began to walk on the stony, mossy path and asked her to come along. Victoria followed, keeping her senses as acute as she possibly could, and wary of her surroundings.

In time she watched as the moss between the stones on the ground began to disappear, as something began to apparently glow in its place. As the continued down the path, it soon fully replaced the moss and eventually they reached a large, bare spot in the forest where the stones formed a large circular platform. Victoria was astounded by this, and could feel _something_ making the hair on her body stand on end.

"Sit in the center of the circle." Tamiko said to her. Victoria nodded and did as so, reluctantly taking a seat on the dirty, stone floor in its exact middle. She crossed her legs and kept her hands on her thighs, and waited.

Two of the four guards that had ridden alongside the carriage were with Tamiko, and Victoria watched as they conversed for a few moments before Tamiko closed her umbrella and pointed it downwards, and began to write things on the outer circular path. Victoria watched as glowing symbols were created, and heard soft murmuring as this was done.

She kept herself from asking what was going on, as she understood that this required concentration. Yet she couldn't help the light anxiousness that was growing as the writing glowed enough to create vertical streams of light, and seemed to crawl closer to her as more writing formed in their wake.

_What's going on?_ She asked herself. _This must be how they plan to awaken it, but what are they doing? What does this entail? Is this… magic? This is so strange!_ Her onslaught of mental questions was only stifled when Tamiko stopped writing and completed the outer layer, and the other layers formed on their own. They seemed to be moving towards her, and her eyes widened when some of them began to crawl on her body as though they were being projected onto her by her blocking their path.

She felt her skin begin to tingle as they crawled and then settled themselves on her body, and brought a heat along with their glow. She studied herself, lifting the sleeves of her pajamas to see the odd-looking letters imprinted on her skin like tattoos.

Wanting an answer, she looked up at where Tamiko had been to open her mouth and ask her what was now plaguing her mind. However her opportunity was cut-off by the bright glow of the letters that assaulted her eyes, as they all seemed to be activated at once. She kept herself from screaming out, but was unable to do so when the markings that had been placed on her body began to burn with intensity like no other. She soon found herself coiling in pain the likes of which she had never felt before.

She was gasping, and moving around like a fish that had been taken out of water. She wanted to ask for help, for them to make it stop, especially when her vision began to become spotted as her consciousness tried to save her from the pain by going out.

That would clearly not happen, she saw, especially when she caught a glimpse of Tamiko beginning to leave the area.

"Nothing can enter nor leave the circle once the runes have been activated; consider it a protective barrier that will secure your safety, much like the barrier around the forest. You will be fine; in a few hours, signs of your true form will begin to be unleashed, and then it will gradually hurt less until you are your true species. During this time, you will not be monitored. Only until you have fully awakened will we come to watch your progress and behavior. We will return in a few hours to see how you are doing…"

And with that, Tamiko and the guards turned their back on her and began to walk down the path of the forest that had led them to there. Her body now poisoned with adrenaline, Victoria was unable to control herself as the pain became too intense, and she screamed.

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><p>For those of you that read the "original" story, allow me to clarify the Guardians.<p>

Seikatsu Katsue = new "Tenako"

Shi Tamiko = new "Tami"

Moriko = new "Anisha"

Ikusei Ayano = new "Ano"

Not just their names but also their personalities, looks and backgrounds have been changed to be more… real and interesting, since before they were kinda copies of Yayuki with the stereotypical, blue, yellow, green and black personalities that's found in anime and manga. No more. I've changed practically everything, and if you like the looks of them with how little I've shown, then you'll _love_ it more when I flesh them out more. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

What do you think? Those process to awaken inhuman blood are pretty brutal, no? _Wrong_! They're _nothing_ compared to what's gonna be happening in the future. Besides, they're only temporary. But I'm curious as to your thoughts on it.

Next chapter: A continuation of this one, with the meeting and more on what's being done to Chika and Victoria. Hm… I wonder what their true species is?

~Chibi


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